


you bring me up and put me down

by kimxjeon



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: 2Park are frustrating, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Enemies, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Growing Up, Gryffindor Jihoon, Hate to Love, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, Minor Character Death, Pining, Quidditch, Rivals, Seekers, Slow Burn, Slytherin Woojin, Woojin sucks at his own feelings, dont worry, i think, my longest and weirdest fic ever but it's 2park hooray
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-15 12:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 33,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13031025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimxjeon/pseuds/kimxjeon
Summary: He regains focus as he swishes and flies in the air with his eyebrows furrowing. He quickly avoids the opposing team’s seeker – Park Woojin – who tries to bump into him. He smirks as he successfully throws the quaffle into the goal post and gives his team ten points.“Shouldn’t you be trying to look for the golden snitch, Park?” he shouts over the loud cheering of the audience, which involves the students of Gryffindor and Slytherin.Woojin glares at him, then slowly there is a wicked grin on his face. “Now, where’s the fun in that if I don’t go after you?”(Woojin likes to run, Jihoon can’t move.)Or an au where Woojin is a Slytherin and Jihoon is a Gryffindor. They are also competitors in Quidditch and in every other aspect – just that one day something in the nature of their relationship shifted.





	you bring me up and put me down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sejun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sejun/gifts).



> me: never in my life i am going to write a hp au  
> me: *gets a hp prompt*  
> me: time to make the shortest fic ever  
> me: *makes this the longest fic ive ever written*  
> me: well shoot
> 
> AGES INFO!! IMPORTANT
> 
> okay so first years can be eleven or twelve year olds, n theyre the same age so im making them twelve in their first years, because the semester starts before woojin’s birthday so he’s eleven when he first meets jihoon who’s twelve.  
> so in their second year they're thirteen and so on.  
> in their last year, seventh year, they're eighteen.
> 
> main -  
> minhyun, seongwoo: two years older than jihoon and woojin  
> hyeop is the same as age jihoon and woojin  
> jinyoung, daehwi, guanlin no change
> 
> minor -  
> daniel: one year older than jihoon and woojin  
> jungkook, taehyung are of the same age: 2 years older than jihoon and woojin
> 
> (not that important for some but if you want clarification)  
> GRYFFINDOR - (mentioned)  
> Jihoon, Minhyun, Hyeop, Mark, Seokjin, Sejeong, Yoojung.
> 
> SLYTHERIN - (mentioned)  
> Woojin, Guanlin, Jinyoung, Seongwoo, Jungkook, Hyunjin, Doyeon, Chan.
> 
> HUFFLEPUFF - (mentioned)  
> Hyeongseop, Daehwi, Daniel, Taehyung.
> 
> RAVENCLAW - (mentioned)  
> Samuel.
> 
> (I'll update when I find more characters that I've mentioned throughout the whole fic)
> 
> Other than that, I'm sorry in advance.  
> If the information are wrong, I apologize, because I tried my best and did lots of research, but some are things that I made up (like, tiny bits) so I hope you don't mind :')
> 
> !!!! also the fic goes like.. Jihoon's point of view from the start of (yi) and there will be another (yi) at the further half of the fic which is in Woojin's pov and the events according to the (title thingy) are the same from each of the povs if that makes sense... sorry for making this confusing!!

“It’s empty.”

The young boy looks around, unable to hold back a loud sigh in relief as he enters the train compartment. He sits himself down, putting both of his hands under his thighs and eyes looking down at his swinging feet before looking around the small place which he extremely wishes is only for him for the whole ride.

He purses his lips, and decides to fix his eyes on the view outside. The sky is between the shade of Carolina and Baby blue, and he sees a few owls flying with their wings spread out - some with an item clutched in between their beaks, while some are just flying with their round and huge eyes among the clouds.

He gulps when the train finally starts moving, passing lots of green grass that he doesn’t really bother. He glances at the other side; not knowing whether he’s relieved or disappointed that no one is sitting here with him.

He has only a little sister who has yet to turn two years old, and he doesn’t really have any friends who are wizards in the muggle world (he was home-schooled and somehow his neighbour of the same age always seemed to avoid him for a reason he doesn’t even know) nor does he have any relatives.

He has thought about making new friends here at Hogwarts, thinking that it's no problem even though he hasn't really tried doing so in his whole eleven years of living.

He stands up a few minutes later, and carefully steps out of the compartment to peek at his neighbours. He frowns when he sees a group of four girls laughing together in one compartment and two boys in the other.

Afraid to walk down further the hallway, he sits back down on his seat with a smaller frown. He starts to pull out a book his mother has given him. It is a notebook, filled with some notes his mother has written down: reminders of what to do and what to not do, information of the school and other things she has emphasized saying ‘these are important, so do not lose this book!’

He groans when he finds none of the pages are about magic spells.

One of the pages catch his attention enough for him to stop flipping over to the next page, and it is information about the Hogwarts houses that his mother probably took from one of the books in the library they had at home.

His parents used to attend Hogwarts; his mom was a Ravenclaw, and his dad was a Hufflepuff. He knows what are the traits of each houses, having being interested everytime his parents bring it up, as they were excited about him attending Hogwarts school and they kept gushing about what house he would be sorted into.

“Gryffindor, I called it,” his dad had commented the morning they received the letter from the school.

“He’s either joining Gryffindor or Slytherin,” his mom responded, nodding.

“ _Slytherin_?” Woojin asked, swallowing his food. “Would you want me to end up in Slytherin? Isn’t that the house where the bad people are in?”

His dad snorted while his mom cracked out a laughter. He stared at them, and glanced at his little sister in the baby chair on the other side of the table who just blinked.

“Not all are bad people, Woojin-ah,” his mom said, and added something Woojin didn’t really remember and understand but it was enough to assure him that Slytherin is not that bad of a house.

He squints at the words found on the other pages, regretting that he has forgotten to completely read over the notes back at home and now he can’t ask his mother any of the foreign words on it. He lets out another sigh.

He stares at his magic wand beside him and thinks about casting a spell.

His parents have never really let him use any spells, except for a few friendly ( _and boring,_ Woojin adds) ones which he doesn’t really use unless he wants to practice trying out one. “You’re not supposed to use magic outside of school, especially when you haven’t learnt the correct technique,” his mother warns. Woojin whines, “I’m only attending Hogwarts in _three_ years!”

Thinking about his parents’ words, Woojin feels downhearted all of a sudden. It hasn’t even been an hour and he has already missed his family. With how overprotective his parents are – considering he was the only child for almost ten years – he has become too attached and dependent on them. The fact that they have to leave him so soon – at such a young age – is making him feel sad.

He shakes the thought off. He has always looked forward to going to this school although he had been nervous and frightened all week before – again he always tells himself to be positive.

The gears in his mind start working, thinking of all the spells he has heard his parents mention. With a swish of his wand, he aims it at his jacket that is sprawling over the seat opposite of him.

“Mobiliarbus,” he verbalizes while flicking his wand the perfect way he sees his parents do. He frowns when nothing happens, looking around to see if there are any changes in the small area.

His memory tells him that he has found this spell on one of the books his mother has left open on her desk, and from what he remembers it is a spell to levitate and move an object. He stares at his jacket, taking a deep breath and attempts the spell one more time with a louder voice.

“Mobiliarbus!” he shouts, loud but not loud enough for it to be heard from the other compartments. He carefully brings up his wand, striving to make the object fight against gravity with magic. He bites his lower lip and drops his arm when it does not work.

He tries again but he still fails so he groans, thinking about how dumb he might look if someone sees him right now.

He sighs. “Okay, one last time,” he mutters to himself.

Taking a deeper breath than before, he swishes and flicks. “Mobiliarbus!” he yells, aiming at the jacket again. He is too focused on trying to control and make it work that he does not notice a boy of his age has passed by and stops when he notices Woojin attempting the spell.

The boy turns his whole body around to look at Woojin who is red-faced and trying to bring his wand up with both of his right hand and left hand as if his wand is something that weighs a lot to be carried.

“Doing a spell?” the boy asks, face popping into the compartment, his fingers gripped around the sliding door.

“Shoot!” Woojin yelps in surprise, arms now moving to direct his wand at the other boy instead, who just looks at him wide-eyed under his thin-rimmed, round glasses. Woojin’s eyebrows furrow, and the boy solely giggles.

“Can I enter?” he asks, eyes peeking up at Woojin.

Woojin nods, his throat drying due to embarrassment and slowly puts his arms down. The latter settles down happily across from him with a grin showing his crooked teeth. He grabs Woojin’s jacket, and looks up at Woojin. “Were you trying to levitate this?”

Woojin only stares at him. He thinks that his face is showing how offended he is by the way the other’s eyes seem to be filled with amusement, and that makes him feel even more offended. The stranger is looking at him like he's dumb, and Woojin knows that but he can’t help but feel annoyed that the person saw his imbecile self failing to do something.

“Yes,” he replies monotonously, frown going deeper when the other boy starts to move his eyes from Woojin to the jacket, and back to Woojin, and repeat until he drops the object beside him.

“Mobiliarbus, right?” he asks, raising a brow with a cheeky smile. Woojin makes sure to express his discomfort, and nods slowly. “It doesn’t work with this,” he points to his brown jacket with his own wand that Woojin doesn’t know where it came from. His eyes wander around Woojin’s items, smile falling as his eyebrows start to meet together in concentration.

“What’re you doing?” Woojin blurts out, suddenly feeling nervous of what the other is planning to do.

He ignores Woojin and his eyes light up not a second later, and he brings up his arm. “Mobiliarbus!” he exclaims. Woojin’s gaze follows where the wand is pointing, and his eyes widen when he sees his own notebook flying beside him. He whips his head to look at the other who is giving him a smug grin. “This spell is to levitate objects, yes,” he informs, “But it only works for wooden objects.”

 _Oh,_ he thinks. _No wonder._

Woojin rolls his eyes to hide his flustered expression, but he lets out a shriek when the book hits his face before falling back onto his lap. He scowls at the other boy who only laughs, using his other hand which isn't holding the wand up to cover his crooked teeth.

“Why did you do that?!” he bites out, left hand rubbing his left temple where the book has made contact with. He is bad at dealing with strangers, and even more now that the other has hurt him physically when he did nothing wrong, and he is aggrieved that he does not even know the stranger’s name!

“I’m Jihoon,” the boy announces, smiling as if he has read Woojin’s thoughts. “Park Jihoon.” He stares at Woojin who is staring back at him with an indecipherable expression. They lock eyes for a few seconds; Jihoon waiting for Woojin to respond with his own name. He does not open his mouth so Jihoon breaks the eye contact. “And you are?”

“Woojin,” he finally replies.

“Right,” Jihoon says, eyes lighting up again as they meet Woojin’s eagerly. “Was that your first spell?”

“No,” Woojin says, body still rigid as this is the first wizard he is talking to on the train, though he’s wondering why isn’t he expressing his anger verbally to the latter due to his previous rude action. He has trust issues, alright, but a part of him thinks that Jihoon is trying to be friendly, and that the fact that he hit his face was an act of wanting to be friends – at least, isn’t that something friends usually do? He isn’t really sure himself; he’s never really had friends, but Jihoon seems harmless with the way he keeps smiling at Woojin, despite the fact that he looks totally packed with knowledge that Woojin’s frightened he’d cast a bad spell on him anytime. “I’ve done a lot of spells at home.”

Jihoon’s eyes stop sparkling with anticipation, instead they are replaced with a chaffing look, and he looks like he is about to laugh but decides against it. Woojin gulps automatically, thinking about how the change in his expression has irked him.

“I thought we weren’t allowed to use magic outside of school?” Jihoon utters, and continues before Woojin can say anything. “I didn’t know about it until I overheard a family mentioning it. I taught it myself though before knowing, not that it’s that hard, I just needed one page of a book to learn the correct ways,” he tells Woojin, who’s now less tense than before. “Magic is fun, it makes things easy, doesn’t it?”

“Well, yeah,” Woojin tries. “But mom doesn’t really let me depend on magic.”

Jihoon pouts. “Aw, but isn’t that what magic is for? For us to take advantage of?” He sounds serious, yet there’s a tone in his voice which indicates he’s joking, but Woojin doesn’t really care.

He shrugs. “Dad sometimes lets me, though. But they still don’t wanna teach me more spells. I only know basic ones, like lumos.”

“What about alohomora?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s to unlock doors.”

“Never heard of that.” He frowns, thinking about the reason why his parents never told him about it. It sounds like it’s a useful spell. “Is it unfriendly or something?”

Jihoon laughs. “Unfriendly?”

“Yeah? Aren’t there like friendly and unfriendly spells?” Woojin asks, confused because _what’s funny?_

The other only chortles, and when he is about to speak up a woman with a cart passes by the corridor and calls out to them. “Anything off the cart, dears?”

Jihoon gives her a small smile while Woojin slowly takes out his gold and walks out into the corridor. He has always loved chocolates and candies – any kind – so he doesn’t really bother in picking as he takes out one of each kind and pays the lady. He enters back into the compartment and places all of them beside him on the seat.

“How about you?” she asks, looking at Jihoon who shakes his head.

“No, thank you.”

She nods, and disappears out of their sight. As Woojin unwraps Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum, Jihoon snatches one of his chocolates. He freezes, and looks up at Jihoon who grins at him. “Hey!”

“I deserve to have one. Can I?”

“No, what! Why didn’t you buy your own?”

“Please, I deserve this after teaching you a simple spell.”

Woojin gawks at him. He is already putting the food into his mouth. “Simple? Then you don’t deserve anything.”

Jihoon snickers, “Yeah, simple, and you weren’t able to do it.” His grin widens when Woojin scoffs. “ _C’mon._ I helped you, I deserve a prize!”

“I didn’t ask you to help me, dimwit.”

He only laughs in return, as Woojin continues to gawk at him until he finishes the chocolate that Woojin bought with his own money. (Technically, his parents’, but they gave it to him so it is his!)

“Don’t you have your own money and food?” Woojin remarks, a brow raising in question. Jihoon only shrugs, and licks his lips to remove some chocolate stains around his lips.

“That was a good chocolate. What was it?”

Woojin does not know if he is fuming or is just purely annoyed that Jihoon really ate his chocolate. “Frog poop.”

Jihoon giggles, and Woojin prevents himself from rolling his eyes. “Chocolate Frogs,” he corrects.

“You know the name! Why’d you ask then?”

He shrugs.

Woojin continues to eat his own food in silence, as Jihoon looks out the window for a few minutes until he stands up.

“Well, it was great meeting you, Woojin, but I gotta go now,” he says. “See you at Hogwarts! I hope we end up in the same house.” With that, he winks and flees away.

“I hope not,” he mutters to himself, not sure if he’s relieved that he’s alone again or empty because he’s lonely now.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Woojin is surprised when his wish is granted.

He is in the Great Hall, not realising how he gapes every time a student goes up after their names have been called, and watches as the sorting hat does its thing. Every time a name is called out, he feels more and more anxious and excited at the same time. The cheers after the sorting hat hollers a house name for the student, makes Woojin feel a rush of adrenaline, and he hopes that he isn't shaking as he dreads for his name to be called out.

Now, he stares at Park Jihoon, the same boy and only boy who had talked to him in the train on the way to Hogwarts. The said boy is focusing his gaze on the remaining students in front of him as he patiently waits for the sorting hat to decide his house with a small smile on his face.

"Gryffindor!"

Woojin watches as Jihoon's face light up and his face breaks out into a grin, bringing up his hands to cover his crooked teeth Woojin has already seen earlier. His own lips twitch into a small smile as the others cheer for Jihoon, clapping him on the back and giving him high-fives, albeit not yet knowing their own houses.

He continues to examine Jihoon who is now welcomed by the other wizards of Gryffindor, and Woojin gulps, now impatient to know what Jihoon is feeling as he sits himself down along with his housemates. Woojin looks away and waits for his own name to be called.

"Slytherin!"

His shoulders finally relax, and he lets out a breathy laugh as the whole place is occupied with hollers and cheers and whistles and other kinds of ecstatic loud noises for him. He steps down, and meets Jihoon's eyes who is looking at him with a surprised smile.

_Huh._

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

He thinks it's funny how he ends up being in the same class with Jihoon. Here he was, thinking that he can avoid Jihoon but looks like it's inevitable to bump into him. He sighs when he finds out that it doesn't matter what houses you're in — you can be classmates with people of different houses.

What does that mean? _More competition._

"Wingardium leviosa!" Woojin says, smiling proudly to himself as he watches the feather floating the way he wants to. He feels his ego boosting when he senses there are eyes on him, and he figures that the other students in his Charms class have stopped to stare at his lovely feather.

"Good job, Park," his teacher praises. "Is there anyone else who can do it?" He eyes the other struggling students. "C'mon, try again."

Just as he says that, another feather of the same kind appears beside Woojin's. His smile falls when he feels everyone's attention shifting towards the new object, and yelps when he almost loses control of his own feather.

"Well done, Park!" the teacher exclaims again.

 _Another Park_ , Woojin thinks. He tries to scan the others in the class while trying to keep levitating his feather. He fails to do so when he makes eye contact with Park Jihoon, who is holding out his wand in the direction of the flying feather.

Woojin only gapes at him and finally snaps out of his daze to see his poor feather reaching the ground. He glowers at Jihoon, who carefully lowers down his own feather on top of his desk, and smiles at the teacher who starts telling the whole class to applaud him.

Then he looks back at Woojin, and winks.

Woojin flares up.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(yi)**

 

Jihoon thinks that he’s a pretty shy person, yet he can act cheeky when he wants to – for example, during his first encounter with Park Woojin, also known as his current enemy.

_Enemy?_

Jihoon doesn’t even know. All he knows is that his shy demeanor is non-existent when it comes to the latter. Woojin makes him finally accept that he’s a Gryffindor, considering how brave Jihoon is when he faces Woojin. It’s something inside him that sparks for him to retaliate whenever Woojin attacks.

But his first encounter with Woojin was quite funny. He actually thought they were going to get along when he first stepped into the compartment, sitting across from the boy who was all by himself.

Jihoon ignored the way Woojin had seemed to look so uncomfortable, and only focused on trying to make the other feel contented. It was kind of awkward for him but he didn’t really show it.

When the sorting hat shouted _Slytherin_ , he had hummed to himself, understanding why he seemed to not get along fine with Woojin earlier.

He knows Slytherins and Gryffindors can be friends but he is stuck with the thought of there are Slytherins and Gryffindors who have difficulty in getting along, and that includes himself and Park Woojin.

Weeks before Hogwarts, he thought he’d end up in Ravenclaw. Not to _brag_ , but he knows that he has more knowledge than the other kids of his age.

Being born from a muggle family, it sure has been a struggle for him.

He spends most of his earlier childhood not understanding the strange things that had happened to him. He has hated himself throughout all of the years, thinking about how he’s worrying his mother a lot because of his peculiar actions that he himself unconsciously did.

He was utterly confused and puzzled when he was informed that he was a wizard. He only managed to deal with it because of how proud his mother had been, and since then she, along with his grandmother, have been supporting him and helping him out with anything.

His dedication to read all of his textbooks was because of his anxiousness – he thought about how he was going to face others of his kind, because he hadn’t properly met any.

After knowing that he was a wizard, he tried to break down his walls and escape from his own little shell that he created when he was younger after his father’s death.

He started thinking that there was a purpose in life. Maybe he started thinking that because his grandmother had repeated the words to him, emphasizing them every time she did. She was really helpful in making Jihoon the cheerful little child he had been like before, and really, that was his incentive to move on.

Disappointing others is not something on Jihoon’s books, or mind, or, body, he doesn’t really know – so when he’s thirteen and is appointed as one of the chasers for his house’s quidditch team, he gives it his all.

He was chosen by Seokjin for a reason, and he isn’t really planning on letting anyone down.

He is flying in the air on his broomstick when he pauses for a while to catch his breath. He eyes his team members competing with the opposing team with a fast heart rate. He grits his teeth when he sees the quaffle being snatched by the infamous Bae Jinyoung.

He quickly rushes to him, and tackles the quaffle when Jinyoung tries to pass it to Jeon Jungkook, and he feels a sense of pride that he manages to take it before it got to one of the best players in Hogwarts.

He regains focus as he swishes and flies in the air with his eyebrows furrowing. He quickly avoids the opposing team’s seeker – Park Woojin – who tries to bump into him. He smirks as he successfully throws the quaffle into the goal post and gives his team ten points.

“Shouldn’t you be trying to look for the golden snitch, _Park?_ ” he shouts over the loud cheering of the audience, which involves the students of Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Woojin glares at him, then slowly there is a wicked grin on his face. “Now, where’s the fun in that if I don’t go after you?”

Jihoon scoffs, “It will be more fun when we win.” He doesn’t hide his smile when Woojin’s glare is back on his face.

“I won’t let that happen.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yes,” he bites out.

It’s only then Jihoon realises that their broomsticks are side by side in the air, and their bodies are turned to glower at each other. He leans in closer before turning around and starts flying away from Woojin, yelling “Good luck with that!”

He continues on participating in the game, helping the other members and whining whenever Slytherin gets the points instead of them.

He finds himself in a similar situation as before when he stops in the air with his shoulders heaving as he pants, eyes trailing from his team members to looking for the demon, which is, of course, Park Woojin.

His jaw drops when he sees Woojin with their team’s seeker – Choi Yoojung. Woojin is no doubt playing with no mercy. He halts a scowl that almost escapes his lips when he sees Woojin pushing Yoojung, catching her off guard. He watches as Yoojung loses her balance, but copes with going back in her normal position, eyes filled with determination as she chases for the snitch.

The snitch is there, but Woojin is nowhere to be found. Jihoon roams his eyes around the area to find Woojin whose eyes are focusing on something and his lips are muttering words that Jihoon can’t hear but can see from his view. It takes him a few seconds to register what is happening.

He almost topples over his broom when he notices that Woojin is casting a spell on Yoojung, and the girl is suddenly losing control over her own broom as it zooms everywhere else, further from the snitch.

Jihoon only sees red when Woojin dashes to the snitch and seizes it, eliciting a roaring ovation from the audience. He grips his broomstick tightly as he watches Woojin raising his arms in the air, smugly showing his flying-on-the-broomstick skills as he flies around at a fast speed.

It’s anger that overcomes Jihoon when he flies to Woojin and pushing him off his broomstick. It’s a wicked grin on his face when he sees Woojin falling from this height, and it only slips off his face when Jinyoung grabs Woojin before he reaches the ground, and slowly letting him land on the ground before throwing daggers at Jihoon with his look.

Jihoon deflates, and his petulant side nudges him to leave the area and go to the locker room.

He quickly shrugs off his quidditch robe and changes back to his usual uniform before more of his team members enter. He ignores the team captain – Seokjin’s protests as he rushes past him and barges into the Slytherin locker room.

He is sure he is seething when his eyes still struggle to find his target in the empty room since most of the members are still outside celebrating their victory. His glare intensifies when he sees Woojin a few feet away from him.

“Hey, here to congratulate me?” Woojin says without looking up, taking out his uniform from his locker. Jihoon stomps off to him so that they are finally face to face. Woojin raises his eyebrows when his eyes land on Jihoon’s boiling face.

“You wish,” he snarls.

Woojin chuckles. “Aw, what’s wrong? Are you here to apologize then?”

Jihoon holds back a scoff. “For what?”

“For not having faith in me.”

“You cheated,” he says flatly.

Woojin’s eyes widen, as if mocking, and lets out a fake gasp. “My, my, where did you get that information? You know that it’s wrong to assume things–“

Jihoon grabs his collar, pulling him closer.

This action takes both of them by surprise, as Jihoon has never initiated a physical contact before, and Jihoon has never considered himself to be the violent type, because while Woojin is more excellent with physical actions, Jihoon is better with words.

Almost flustered by the proximity, he harshly pushes Woojin until his back hits the lockers. Jihoon almost panics when he hears Woojin’s moan, but his anger is not allowing him to recoil. “Didn’t know you could push so hard.”

Jihoon almost splutters, but decides to ignore his comment.

“That was unfair!” he shrieks.

Woojin faces morphs from a grimace to a glare. “Why would it be?”

“You _cheated!_ Do I have to elaborate?”

Woojin laughs, and it’s bitter instead of sardonic. “Yeah, I did! So what?!”

“Oh, _so what?_! No one has told you that cheating is a bad thing?!”

He snickers, “You sound five.”

“You act like you’re five.”

Woojin’s smile slips off his face. “Take that back, Park.” He steps closer to him.

Jihoon doesn’t back away.

“You can’t say it’s cheating if no one knows!” Woojin says.

“Oh, really? Then why don’t I just go out and report this to–“

Jihoon starts to leave but Woojin grabs his wrist.

Now it’s Jihoon’s turn to let out a bitter laugh. “You’re scared now?”

“Shut up, Park. No one cares anyways! We already won! We’re one step closer to getting the house cup!”

“But that’s totally unfair! You got the house cup because of cheating! Don’t you feel _bad_?!” Jihoon cries out.

Woojin lets go of him. “No, not really, not when triumph is in our hands.”

“I _hate_ you, you know that?” Jihoon says in a small voice, looking down because he is tired like every time after a fight with Woojin.

“You remind me this everyday.”

“And I won’t stop reminding it.” Jihoon looks up again, and he curses inwardly when Woojin starts to get blurry. That’s when he notices that tears are almost falling, and he looks away. He sure cries a lot. He knows that he’s a sensitive person, but he has always held back his tears in front of Woojin. He never lets himself break down in front of the other, knowing that it’ll ruin his pride.

He just failed his first Quidditch match.

He leaves the room without looking back to see Woojin’s reaction.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(er)**

 

Jihoon is fourteen and he still gets frozen at the mention of the word ‘mudblood’.

Ever since he was first called that in his second year at Hogwarts, it has been Park Woojin’s favourite word.

He really does not want to have a weakness, but turns out that he has one, and of course the person he hates the most in the world has to know it. The past three years he has been trying to figure out Woojin’s weakness but he is still not succeeding.

This is one of the reasons why Jihoon thinks that Woojin does not have a heart.

If he had one he would’ve at least know what it’s like to be pitiful, and empathetic. The past few years that Jihoon has known Woojin, he’s sure that this statement still stands.

His notebook flies out of his grasp and he lands on his butt as the tiny papers from the book are scattered everywhere. He is in the courtyard when he realizes that he has bumped into Woojin.

He looks up from his position to see Woojin laughing with his friends, and oh how Jihoon wants to punch his snaggletooth right now. He huffs out a breath, and stands up only to be pushed again.

“What is your problem!”

Woojin stops laughing and smirks. “You.” His other friends titter.

He tries to collect the papers that he's able to reach, and gets up without looking at Woojin. He grabs his notebook and starts walking.

Woojin pulls his robe. “Where are you going?”

“Away from fools.”

Woojin rushes in front of him and he is forced to halt in his steps. He uses a finger to put up his glasses that are about to slip off his nose.

“Are you calling me a fool?”

“Yeah, unless you’re deaf by now.”

Woojin’s hands are suddenly around his jaw, and slowly they move to his throat.

On reflex, Jihoon drops down his book and papers to land his fist on Woojin’s left cheek.

Woojin staggers. He rubs his temple as his eyes move from the ground to Jihoon who’s looking at him wide-eyed, even more shocked than Woojin is.

He laughs. “Wow, didn’t know pretty boy could land a punch that strong.”

Jihoon, still stunned, mutters, “I’m flattered.”

“Because?”

“You called me a pretty boy.”

Woojin blinks.

With that, he collects his items at a superhuman speed and flees away.

“Hey! Come back here you freaking–!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

It is hard to avoid Woojin when he shares most of his classes with the other boy.

That night after Jihoon punched Woojin for the first time, it was hard for him to sleep. He kept shuffling around and changing his sleeping position, as he struggles to at least get a blink of sleep.

But he couldn’t. Not when his heart was beating too loud that his roommates could probably hear it, but thankfully all of them were not light sleepers.

He was frightened, thinking about if he is able to face Woojin again. He started to wallow in self-deprecation, angry that he lost his control. Although it wasn’t the first time Woojin had done that, it was surely the first time Jihoon had fought back physically.

So when he goes to class early so he can avoid bumping into Woojin on the way, he can’t stop himself from shaking.

He doesn’t really want to look vulnerable.

Even though he feels bad and guilty, he doesn’t want to be the one apologizing to the other – not when Woojin’s ego is bigger than his own head.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(san)**

 

He blinks, finally being able to focus on having a clearer vision and control himself as his anger dissipates. He's only able to realize the situation he's in when he hears one of the professors yelling at them to stop.

_Stop? Stop what?_

He looks up in confusion, and shocked faces swim into his vision. He starts to hear the hushed whispers and snickers clearly. The people around him are the other students who are circling around them, fingers pointing to another figure who is not him. He gazes down only to realize that Woojin is below him, and that he’s above Woojin. He gasps loudly, putting up a hand to cover his mouth, and lets out a small yelp when he sees a drop of blood on his hands.

“Park Woojin, Park Jihoon, come with me.”

He slowly gets away from Woojin who lets out a groan. Jihoon bites his lower lip, vision starting to get blurry again due to the tears that are about to form. He avoids the gazes of others and stands up, wobbling in the process.

“It’s okay, Jihoon-ah,” he hears someone say. He squints, and looks up to see his best friend smiling up at him apologetically.

“Hyeop, what–“

“ _Now_ ,” the professor demands.

He doesn't even know where he’s heading to while his lower lip quivers. He’s thinking about what he’s done, slowly putting the puzzle pieces together: blood, injuries, and him on top of Woojin. The embarrassment is swallowing him, and his head is spinning and he is so lightheaded and his throat is so dry and he feels like he can’t control his body anymore as his feet bring him to a place he doesn’t know.

He’s sitting down.

He's sitting on a chair and beside him is someone, a boy, and in front of them is a desk and behind the desk is a teacher.

“Now, care to explain why were the both of you making a commotion out there?”

He opens his mouth but nothing is coming out, and the person beside him beats him to it.

“He started pulling out his wand and cursed me!” Woojin says, pointing an accusing finger to Jihoon on his right.

Jihoon’s head whips to the latter, and Woojin’s right cheek is bruised, and he lets out a silent gasp before the professor starts speaking up again.

“Is it true, Jihoon?”

Jihoon turns his head to her, and looks down to his lap immediately. “I, I–“ He draws a shaky breath. “I don’t know.”

Woojin snorts. “Yeah, you were pretty out of your mind, beating me up like that.”

“You did it first!”

“I didn’t! Professor Lim, he walked up to me and knocked me off my feet with the spell he casted! I–“

“Silence!” She slams her hands down onto the desk. Both of them flinch, and Jihoon is so close to crying. He has never been in trouble before. The teachers love him – he’s disciplined and committed and punctual and diligent and he has never let anyone down. He has never seen his teacher look so disappointed because of him.

“Detention, for both of you.”

“But–“

“What–!”

“No arguments! Stay back after classes and help clean out! I don’t care who started the fight, who ended it, and which places you guys are going to clean – it’s either one of the classes or the library. Starting tomorrow, meet me here immediately and we can start as soon as possible. Now, dismissed.”

Woojin lets out a scoff, and glares at Jihoon’s direction before leaving the room with a slam of the door.

Jihoon only sits there, unable to take this in. _Him? Being punished?_   He wants to cry, but he better leaves before he does so in front of the teacher.

Her sigh stops him form moving. “Park Jihoon, I’m disappointed in you.”

“I know, Professor Lim.” He still can’t look at her in the eye. “I’m sorry,” he croaks out, voice barely above a whisper.

“Jihoon-ah,” she starts. “Every time he bothers you, just call me, alright? Come to me. I’ll make sure he doesn’t do it again.”

He shakes his head, eyebrows meeting together because he’s surely confused at his own actions right now. “No, it’s fine.”

He lifts his head up, and she’s looking at him with a sad smile on her face. He returns the smile while standing up.

“Thank you, I’ll get going now.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(bu)**

 

“Hyeop, my head’s fuzzy,” he whines, and puts his head on his best friend’s lap, who’s sitting down on his bed. He pats Jihoon’s hair, and inhales before telling Jihoon what had happened.

“I don’t blame you. He’s such a devil.”

Jihoon laughs. “I know, right? Thank God I’m not the only one who acknowledges it.”

“In class he kept burning holes at you with his gaze,” he starts. “You left class earlier. I stayed back to ask the teacher some questions. I feel bad I didn’t come out earlier because when I did, he was spurting out offensive words, and I saw you were trying to not let them affect you. Until–“ He grimaces. “–you know, he said, that word.”

Jihoon chuckles. “I really should grow up.” He sits up. “I mean, I wouldn’t let a word affect me like–“

Hyeop pulls his head onto his lap again.

“And then, yeah, he was pretty pumped up when you started yelling at him. He was so annoying. He went like ‘yeah? You gonna punch me now, Park? Just like you did yesterday?’ and that’s pretty much it. He wanted to punch you first but you took your wand out of your robe and sent him flying and it was really cool, I honestly don’t blame you for defending yourself.”

“But I could’ve controlled myself! It was his mission to rile me up and he did, so I’m the loser here.” He pouts.

“Shush, it’s happened.” Hyeop taps his nose and laughs when Jihoon scrunches it up. “I didn’t know what to do so I just called the teacher. I didn’t mean for you to get in trouble, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, you did what was right.”

Hyeop hums. “I was surprised you knew lots of curse spells. I mean I knew you knew lots of spells but _wow_ , and even Woojin knew how to retaliate, then both of you made a scene.”

“I’m so embarrassed. I really chose anger over my reputation.”

“No, really, I didn’t wanna say this but Woojin knows how to start a fight. It was his purpose for you to attack him.”

Jihoon grumbles in response.

“Honestly, I’d think you’re weak for him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You always give in— give what he wants. If I hadn’t known better I’d think you wanted him to complete his mission.”

Jihoon laughs. “Mission? You’re funny, Hyeop.”

“I know,” Hyeop agrees. “But you know, you guys should start, um,” he clears his throat, “making up.”

Jihoon stares at him as if he’s grown another head.

“Me? With him? It’s complicated.”

“I know! I don’t even get why you’re like this.”

“Sometimes, I like to think it’s nature, that makes us repulsive of each other.”

“Really? Just because you’re a Gryffindor and he’s a Slytherin?”

“Pretty much.”

“Look, I know you’re not that stupid.”

“I just, hate him.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah! He gets on my nerves.”

Hyeop groans, “Both of you won’t ever stop this rivalry at this point.”

“You think I don’t want to stop this?” He finally sits up again, and settles on sitting beside the latter. “I just don’t know how to. It just seems so impossible to get along with him. We see each other everyday and somehow there’s always an interaction.”

“I wish I can help.”

Jihoon smiles softly.

That night, Hyeop’s words won’t leave his mind, repeating over and over in his head like some kind of threat and a reminder at the same time, but more of a realisation, like something that wants him to stop being in denial.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(si)**

 

“Both of you are going to clean the same place together. So Jihoon, you wanna clean the library? Woojin is going with you.”

“But I wanna clean the potions classroom–“ Woojin starts.

“This is your punishment, both of you have to clean together, as a team.”

“Team? That word does not define us both at all,” Jihoon says.

“That’s enough,” the professor chides. “You can clean the potions classroom tomorrow. You are going to do cleaning for the whole week so we have more time. Now go. When I come back in two hours it better be clean.”

She leaves both of them and enters the staffroom. Jihoon drags his feet to the library, ignoring Woojin who’s muttering a series of complaints under his breath.

He swings the door open, and smiles. He loves the library; it’s his safe place. He usually goes here after classes before going back to the dormitory, he’s able to focus and concentrate on his school work here the best.

“Isn’t this clean already?” Woojin comments. “Now we can go to another place–“

“Thought you didn’t wanna clean,” Jihoon cuts while approaching one of the shelves.

Woojin rolls his eyes behind Jihoon.

“Fine then, you do all the cleaning.”

In the end, both of them ended up arranging the books together after being ordered by the librarian, in which both are defenseless and Jihoon is relieved that Woojin is forced to work anyway.

As much as he didn’t want to work with the other, it would have certainly been unfair if he was the only one helping out.

Jihoon sort of feels bad when he thinks about how he’s doing all of this just because it’s his punishment instead of him doing a volunteer work. Since he's in the library a lot, he's more familiar than Woojin when it comes to arranging the books in which shelves they belong to, although the librarian told them to ask her if they want any guidance.

“That should be in there,” Jihoon informs softly, not sure if it’s because he intends for it to be soft or because he’s in the library and it’s just on reflex.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” Woojin hisses, but follows Jihoon’s order anyway, to which Jihoon watches with a knowing smile on his face.

Woojin sticks his tongue out to Jihoon before rolling his eyes and stomping off to another section. The boy only blinks under his circular spectacles, before sighing and continuing on with his work.

His stomach grumbles, and he frowns thinking about how he’s missing dinner with the others in the Great Hall. He wonders if there’d be any food left once he finishes with this, or if Hyeop saved some for him.

He shakes his head and tries to erase the thoughts of food from his mind. He glances over at Woojin, and lets out a silent chuckle at how ridiculous the other looks; his eyebrows pulled together with a frown so deep as he tries to figure out which section should the book he is holding to be located.

Jihoon quickly looks away when Woojin starts to turn to look at him, hiding his face in books as he grimaces at his tumultuous heartbeat. _Really?_  he thinks to himself and ignores his warming cheeks as he goes back to work.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(wu)**

 

Days pass by and he still stays back after classes with Woojin, cleaning places until the thought of how this punishment is useless because these places do not have to be cleaned.

Surprisingly, Woojin does his work, and he keeps his mouth shut instead of bothering Jihoon, except for a few snarky remarks here and there, but Jihoon stays unbothered.

He still feels ashamed and mortified because of the reason why they’re in this situation. He really wants all of this to stop so he can avoid getting in trouble, and he’s honestly glad that they haven’t been onto each other’s throats more than before, but he still feels guilty because he can’t end all of this without any apology.

But he’s too petty to even admit that in his head.

Although Jihoon smiles cheekily everytime Woojin gives him a glare (this has been happening for so many years, it is Jihoon’s self-defense every time Woojin decides to do so), he can’t seem to ignore how his heart race picks up every time Woojin glowers further and looks away after scowling.

_Fear? Is that it?_

Jihoon is sure scared of Woojin but he hates him more than he’s scared of him so he doesn’t understand why is he suddenly wavering, but he tells himself that it’s obviously because of the fight they had the other day.

The other students didn’t stop talking about it, and Jihoon would always hide in the library to avoid people, leaving Hyeop to hang out with his other friends, although it didn’t stop him from pestering Jihoon, saying “Don’t worry, I’ll kick them in the face if they dare to insult you! C’mon!”

He’s not really arguing. He loves the library, and the first time he stepped in there after the first day of cleaning with Woojin (why does that sound so weird in some way), he felt proud seeing how neat and clean the library was (not that it wasn’t before, but it was even nicer than before) and he smiles thinking that it was because of his work (and Woojin, but he tries not to think about it).

But soon, the hype died down. No one really cared anymore. The past is in the past, and Jihoon is relieved they stopped talking about it, stopped glancing over his way every time he appeared, and he was back to being the invisible Jihoon (–that’s a lie, he’s not invisible, his rivalry with Woojin was well-known).

He sighs when Woojin taunts him in class, thinking about how everything’s back to normal. He sits behind Jihoon, kicking his chair incessantly while Jihoon tries to ignore him, but of course, he fails in the end so he whips his body around to raise an eyebrow at Woojin whose eyes light up.

“Wah! Turns out he’s alive!” he exclaims. He looks over at Chan who’s beside him. “Thought he was dead since he wasn’t responding.” Both of them sneer at him.

Jihoon gives them a bored look. “What do you want?”

Woojin smirks triumphantly, and shoves his test paper to Jihoon. “Look! I got a full mark. Bet it’s a higher mark than you, because, you know–“ He pauses and nudges his seatmate with his elbow and winks mockingly (Jihoon cringes). “–I’m better than you.” He locks his gaze on Jihoon again who just keeps on giving him a blank look.

Woojin shifts under his gaze after a few seconds, and frowns.

“You gonna show me your mark or I’m just gonna assume that you got a lower one?” he quizzes, raising a brow. Then he forms a grin so fast that Jihoon is almost taken aback. “Of course it’s not an assumption, what I say is true – _facts_ only!” He waves a hand and kicks Jihoon’s chair again as a signal for him to look in front.

So Jihoon does.

“Good job, all of you. I’m really satisfied with how much you’ve improved,” the teacher says to the whole class. “And of course, some of your friends here have scored a full mark.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes when he hears Woojin’s ego boosting (– don’t ask how).

“Congratulations Park Woojin, Park Jihoon! Keep up the good work,” their teacher comments, smiling at them both.

Jihoon’s lips form into a smile when his classmates start applauding.

His smile widens when he hears the angry sound of a paper crumpling along with a heavy breathing behind him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(liu)**

 

Jihoon is fifteen when he becomes the seeker of his house’s Quidditch team.

This year they have a new team captain — Hwang Minhyun — who allowed them to change their positions after showing their capabilities, and Jihoon has honestly wanted to be a seeker.

This time, he is scared of Woojin cheating. The last time he got all of the attention of making Slytherin win, and Jihoon could only seethe while watching people all over Woojin who was putting on a smug face from afar. Jihoon didn’t really think anyone would believe him so he never really said anything, but that didn’t stop him from stomping over to Woojin and confronting him about it.

Though, of course, Woojin ended up rolling his eyes and ignoring him.

If Woojin got away with it the first time, it certainly means he has the guts to do it again.

But that is not the only thing he is frightened of.

Last year, they lost after competing with Slytherin, and he doesn’t really want to lose again. Not only that, he’s very anxious that this is his first Quidditch game as a seeker, and he thinks it’s unfair that Woojin has experienced this before but for him it’s all new.

But he really shouldn’t blame anyone since he wanted the change of positions, and Minhyun agreed to appoint him for a reason, so he decides to have more faith in himself.

Jihoon takes a deep breath, and looks at Woojin beside him.

“May the best house win,” he says with a genuine smile.

Woojin looks at him, and snorts.

The game begins and the golden snitch is released and Jihoon starts zooming, with Woojin following closely behind him.

If Jihoon has thought being a chaser is hard, being a seeker is more difficult. He halts to a stop when he realises that they are all depending on him. Once the snitch is taken, the game ends. His mind starts spinning by then, and he feels something forming in his throat but it stops when someone speaks up beside him.

“Scared, Park?”

Jihoon wants to throw up even more when he notices it’s Woojin. He gulps, shakes his head and takes another deep breath. He tries to put on a smile and looks at Woojin.

“You’re just scared if I, a seeker rookie, catch the snitch instead of you,” he responds, and clears his throat when his voice cracks.

“No, I’m actually more relaxed that you’re a newbie, fully knowing that Slytherin’s going to win because of me.”

Instead of knocking Jihoon’s confidence down, he feels more excited to actually play his part as Gryffindor’s seeker, and he mentally thanks Woojin for trying to pick a fight on him (for the first time ever). Woojin’s words somehow switch on the gears in him which makes him want to prove him wrong, because while Woojin loves the thought of being the best, Jihoon loves the thought of proving others wrong; he’s never going to let go of the amazing feeling of not letting anyone down, and succeeding others’ expectations is Jihoon’s favourite thing.

“You sure have a lot of confidence, don’t you?”

“Yeah, that’s because I’m so great.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is overconfident,” Jihoon replies, grinning before giving him another iconic wink before flying away to hunt for the seeker.

“You’re going down, Park!” Woojin shouts from behind him.

 _God,_ Jihoon thinks. _The snitch is so annoying._

It keeps flying away and when he is finally focusing on the object and about to bring up his arm, it disappears in a blink of an eye, and Jihoon has to restrain himself from falling off his broomstick and giving up.

Woojin appears in front of him, and he makes a sudden stop which catches him off guard. Woojin grins — snaggletooth showing in its full glory — and zooms upwards to the snitch.

Jihoon lets out a growl which makes him feel lighter, and he goes after Woojin who’s going after the snitch. He gasps when the snitch quickly goes to his direction and it’s there, it’s so close and he’s about to grab it but Woojin pushes him with his own broomstick.

Jihoon shrieks, almost falling over but one of his team members quickly comes to rescue him, and Jihoon almost cries because he actually thought he was going to break a lot of bones. He looks up to see one of his seniors, Sejeong, and almost topples over again.

“You okay, Jihoon-ah?” she asks with a concerned smile.

“Y-Yeah,” he stammers. “Thank you noona.”

“Be careful, alright?” she reminds, before flying away.

Jihoon huffs out a breath, and glares at Woojin who’s above him with a teasing smile. He decides to ignore Woojin because there’s something more important for him to catch and that something isn’t Woojin.

His eyes move around the area until he spots that irritating golden ball flying around like some kind of insect, and he exhales before increasing his speed to it.

Up, down, left and right he goes as he tries to avoid the bodies of the other players and only focusing on the snitch. He hears lots of grunts and yelling and doesn’t need to look back to understand that it’s Woojin who’s bumping without any sympathy.

Then he hears the snitch before he sees it, the buzzing and squeaking sound of it roaring in his ears. The snitch is finally in front of him. It is so close to his face that he thinks he looks cross-eyed right now trying to make sure the snitch doesn’t leave his vision. He takes a deep breath and stares at it before bringing his hand up.

“No!” he hears Woojin scream, and he quickly swats Jihoon’s hand and the snitch dashes besides Jihoon.

He turns around and attempts to snatch it again but suddenly he’s falling.

He just keeps falling because he can’t get ahold of his broom anymore and gravity is pulling him down and he can’t do anything to save himself at this point. He grunts when his front body hits something soft, but his eyes widen when there is nothing under him and he is floating.

 _Cushioning charm_ , he thinks.

He coughs, and lets out a moan in pain when he feels pain on his upper chest. He feels tears springing out of his eyes when he tries to get up and it still stings. He finally pulls his body up and on the soft cushion is the snitch.

With a breathy laugh and a groan mixed together, he grabs the snitch with his working right hand, and pulls his arm up as high as he can.

“Park Jihoon has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(qi)**

 

Jihoon has a broken left arm after falling on his left side and a very very painful bruise on his chest due to the snitch making a hard impact when he fell on top of it. It was a bittersweet victory, but Jihoon really doesn’t have any complaints because they won, and he made Woojin turn back to his own words.

He still tries to go to class since he is right-handed and he can write perfectly, but it gets kind of uncomfortable when his classmates glance at him pitifully, speaking in hushed whispers while they do so.

After it ends, most of them walk up to him to congratulate him and tell him to feel better. Jihoon is really grateful that he won with a broken arm rather than losing with a broken arm, _now_ that would have been embarrassing.

Weird things have happened, and one of them includes Woojin’s behavior.

Jihoon is very shocked to find out Woojin understands the definition of shame and guilt. The past few days he has avoided communicating with Jihoon, and Jihoon does not really know what he truly feels because the other is always keeping his head down or away from Jihoon’s point of view.

He doesn’t know if he is supposed to feel sad or relieved, because if their rivalry is going to end like this — Woojin feeling guilty because of pushing him off his broomstick from a high feet and not apologizing at all — he will never stop loathing the other.

Jihoon sighs as he closes the novel he was reading in the library. It is almost time for dinner and he does not really want to be late for it considering how loud his stomach is being right now.

“Hyung, don’t you think this is going too far?” someone says in a low voice somewhere in between the row of tall shelves behind him. He assumes it is Lai Guanlin, and he freezes at the realisation of Woojin’s group of friends being nearby.

“Yeah, shouldn’t you at least feel sorry?” This time it is Bae Jinyoung, and Jihoon really wants to leave the library right now.

“What are you guys talking about?” Woojin asks, voice louder than his other friends. “Are you sure we’re on the same page? It’s about the mudblood, right?”

 _Ouch,_ Jihoon thinks. As much as he tells himself the word doesn’t affect him anymore, it is still rather painful to hear it. It isn’t his first time hearing Woojin and his friends talking about him, but maybe it’s the first time he is actually eavesdropping because he is pretty sure they do not notice he is listening.

“Park Jihoon hyung, yes,” Guanlin confirms.

“You broke his arm,” Jinyoung states.

“It wasn’t my fault he fell!” Woojin says.

“Hyung, you pushed him.”

“Didn’t mean for him to fall.”

Guanlin snickers. “Really, hyung? We know you enough to know that of course you wanted him to fall— _ow_!”

“Guanlin, we’re in the library. Keep your voice down,” Jinyoung hisses.

“Sorry,” the youngest whispers.

Woojin sighs. “Honestly guys, I’m _sorry_ if you thought I was feeling guilty!”

“Obviously all of us think you are. You’ve been in a pretty bad mood and instead of letting out your anger on Jihoon hyung like you always do, you haven’t really looked at his way,” Jinyoung mutters.

“That’s because these past few days I’ve been really petty that we lost, okay. Slytherin lost to Gryffindor. I hate to have my butt beaten by anyone especially when it’s him,” he protests.

Jihoon puts his head down on the table and tries not to sigh. He really should have known better. Instead of rethinking his life choices and repenting, obviously Woojin would be the one who would not face his enemy after a defeat.

He is really never going to get along with Woojin.

“Hey,” someone whispers, sliding into the seat beside him.

He lifts his head up and automatically smiles when he faces Ong Seongwoo: current captain of Slytherin’s Quidditch team.

“Ah, hello hyung,” he replies, returning Seongwoo’s smile.

Seongwoo is one of the Slytherins who is actually affable, friendly and nice in general. He may be taunting sometimes but at least he makes sure no one hates him, or even think about disliking him (except when it’s pure envy). Everyone is basically comfortable around him and everyone loves him, which is quite unusual since that’s usually people from Hufflepuff, but there’s a reason why he was sorted to Slytherin instead.

“How are you feeling, wink boy?” he asks.

Jihoon can’t help but laugh, and immediately stops himself with a cough when his laughter comes out as a loud one. He tries not to grimace when he feels faces turning around to look at the source of sound, and he thinks Woojin and his friends have finally noticed his presence nearby because he feels Woojin looking (—he whines inwardly because how does he recognize the feeling of the other’s gaze?).

He decides to ignore them and does not let his excited facade falter in front of Seongwoo.

One of the nicknames Jihoon is given is _wink boy_ , and somehow Seongwoo calls him that most of the time and most of the time it never fails to surprise him.

Seongwoo has been in the quidditch team since his first year, and of course he knows about the Parks case. He has helped to stop them from tackling each other from time to time during Quidditch, so he has certainly seen Jihoon wink teasingly at Woojin.

Jihoon thinks that it is Woojin’s weakness, considering how he ends up stumbling over his words whenever Jihoon winks—but it does not work all the time unlike Woojin calling him ‘ _a filthy mudblood_ ’ and he still gets frustrated thinking how Woojin is so immune.

“Fine, I guess,” he replies. He has this slight fear of talking to his seniors, especially when it is someone from another house; the respect he has for them is too much he does not want to humiliate himself at all.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that ‘ _I guess_ ’ since your voice is too small,” he comments, raising an eyebrow at Jihoon who flushes.

One thing’s sure about how Slytherin Seongwoo is, it is that he is so blunt and forward.

“We’re in the library,” he states in his normal volume.

“Of course, but it’s not like we would get scolded if we talk like _this_ ,” Seongwoo responds, raising his voice when he says ‘this’, earning looks from the other students.

“Ong Seongwoo,” the librarian hisses.

“Oops,” he responds, putting a hand up to cover his mouth, before grinning at the librarian. “I’m sorry. I’ll keep quiet now. Shhh,” he whispers furiously. The librarian only shakes her head.

Jihoon giggles. “Control yourself, hyung.”

“Hoonie, you should be saying that to yourself. You really fell from hundreds of metres above the ground!”

The younger pouts. “I know, I should’ve been more careful.”

“But Gryffindor won,” Seongwoo affirms, leaning in closer as he puts his hands together and puts it under his chin, looking at Jihoon in the eye. Jihoon tries not to shift under his gaze and gives him a smile.

“Yeah.”

“Congrats, you’ve beaten us,” he says genuinely. “It’s my first year as the captain and I already feel like I’ve let my team down!” He expresses it as if it’s a joke, and he lets out a laugh — which does not sound bitter or genuine but rather fake to Jihoon, but it is also known as the laugh Seongwoo makes every time after he tells a joke.

“Aw, it’s okay hyung,” Jihoon assures. “We all know you’re a good leader. You’ve been chosen for a reason.”

Seongwoo hums for a while, before nodding. “Great thinking, Jihoon. Always knew you know the right words to say.” He reaches out a hand to ruffle Jihoon’s hair, to which the younger laughs.

“Thank you.”

The older stares at him for a while with a fond gaze, and Jihoon really tries not to squirm, but eventually Seongwoo claps his hands together and he flinches.

“I’ll get going now. See you around, wink boy,” Seongwoo says, standing up. He ruffles Jihoon’s hair once again and winks at him. Jihoon waves at him.

He sighs before staring at his lap. Even though Seongwoo is only a year older than him, he sees Jihoon as a kid — as if he is so many years younger.

Then he looks up when he feels gazes on him. Woojin and his two friends are staring at him. Guanlin waves at him, Jinyoung gives him a small apologetic smile while Woojin just stares with his nostrils flaring up.

Jihoon returns both of the smile and wave to Guanlin and Jinyoung who acknowledge it and quickly bow at him from afar before following Woojin who is exiting the library.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(ba)**

 

Jihoon is sixteen when he receives a heartbreaking letter.

They’ve grown — increasing in height and maturity while their levels of being petty and rude have decreased.

They still bicker here and there, but not as much as before. Back then it used to be everyday and every time their eyes land on each other, but now it is just a roll of eyes or pretending to be oblivious of the other’s presence.

But it does not mean they hate each other less.

Jihoon still hates Woojin’s guts. After all, he has spent most of his time in Hogwarts thinking about how to deal a certain demon which is, him. He tries to ignore them though, and unlike before, he pushes Woojin away instead of replying with a snarkier remark.

He thinks it is going to be a normal day: eat, go to class, library, class again, next class, avoid Woojin in all classes, library, dinner, common room then bedtime.

_Not really._

“Mail’s here!” Lee Daehwi squeals from the Hufflepuff table, and everyone else cheers when they see the flock of birds entering with items. They drop their items and Jihoon smiles when he sees one dropped in front of him.

“Oh yeah, you got another one.” Mark nudges beside him. Jihoon smiles at him.

“Yeah,” he replies, before opening the letter. His smile changes into a frown, not knowing what are the contents of the letter. The past few weeks, he hasn’t exactly been receiving great letters. In fact, they were rather bittersweet.

His mother telling him that she’s doing well and taking care of herself so Jihoon should do the same thing., but he doesn’t really think about it that much, because his grandmother had fallen ill and it has him on edge these days, but again he tries not to let it affect him.

Once his eyes skim over the words of the letter, he senses his tear glands being stimulated. _God,_ he’s sixteen. He’s never cried in front of people, other than when he broke his arm, but he was younger.

But how can he not cry when he is staring at the words of _grandmother_ and _dead_ together in the same sentence? His grandmother, one of the two only family members he has left, one of the two only muggles to know of him being a wizard and has fully supported him instead of being afraid of him just like Jihoon thought about himself when he first found out.

He saw it coming. His grandmother has lived for so long and the letters he has received never once assured him that she will get better. But he still feels so sad. It is like someone is taking up his oxygen all at once, and his mind is whirling and he can’t think clearly— not even being able to reply to his concerned friends who are asking him if he’s okay.

He quickly wipes his eyes and stands up.

“Hey, Jihoon-ah, you okay?” Hyeop asks, words finally reaching Jihoon. “Where are you going?”

“I just,” Jihoon starts. “I- I need space right now. I’m sorry. Don’t wait for me. I’ll be back.” He rushes to the exit of the Great Hall and tries to run to the washroom. His vision gets blurry on his way, and he keeps on letting out choked sobs but he doesn’t really care considering how no one is around here right now.

He slams the male restroom door open, and he stops crying on instant when he lets out a loud gasp.

“Oh my God!” he shrieks, and puts a hands over his mouth, then quickly over his eyes once he realises that is what he is supposed to do.

His mind is still flashing the image he saw, and no matter how hard he tries to erase it from his head it isn’t working well when it’s still fresh and clear.

Jeon Jungkook — the star player of Quidditch from Slytherin — is in front of Kim Taehyung — the literal sunshine of Hogwarts from Hufflepuff — who is sitting on the sink with his back pressed to the mirror. Taehyung is looking in his direction with wide eyes and swollen lips, and Jungkook’s arms are holding Taehyung up the sink, looking similar as a disheveled mess with his head lifting up from Taehyung’s neck to look at Jihoon with hooded eyes.

“I’m so, _so_ so so so sorry, I—“ Jihoon shuts his eyes close while he apologizes, but before he can finish his apology he is pulled by someone out of the room, and he yelps as he collides with a familiar figure.

Jihoon stays with his head pressed on the other person’s chest, and the other is wrapping his arms around Jihoon, as if securely protecting him from some harm.

“ _Guk_! Oh my God, it’s your fault!” They hear Taehyung whine.

Jungkook groans. “Really, Tae?”

“You idiot! You were the one who kissed me in here!”

“How can it be my fault when you look hella good and irresistible? You’re being the unfair one here!”

“Jeon Jungkook, I was washing my hands.”

“And I was staring at you from the mirror before I lost it.”

“T-that’s enough!” Taehyung splutters. “Poor Jihoon didn’t deserve that view! Who told you it was a good idea to make out in the filthy washroom anyway?!”

“Doesn’t deserve that view? Pft, yeah, watch in a few years as he does the same exact thing with Woojinie, and _again_ , it was your fault you look so kissable and—“

Jihoon is dragged away before he can hear the rest of the conversation.

The other lets him go when they are at a certain distance enough from the bickering couple. Jihoon looks up to meet Seongwoo’s eyes.

“Oh, hyung!” Jihoon exclaims, eyes lighting up and lips forming into a grin, sadness disappearing for a while. Seongwoo returns the grin and stands there while Jihoon takes the opportunity to wipe his dry tears. “That was weird. I mean, I knew they were into each other but I didn’t need to see that!” He laughs to himself, and glances up at Seongwoo. “Funny how Jungkook was really shameless. Are all Slytherins like that?” He raises a brow at the elder.

Seongwoo only looks at him, smile slowly falling as if offended.

Jihoon playfully pushes Seongwoo’s shoulder. “Ay, _hyung_ , kidding! There’s nothing wrong with having no shame...” he drifts off, pursing his lips when Seongwoo flinches at his touch and hits him back.

“Ah!” Jihoon yelps at the hard push, body almost falling when he finds it hard to get back on his feet.

Seongwoo grabs the younger’s wrist before he loses his balance. Jihoon looks at his feet, before up at the taller.

“Hyung,” Jihoon says, watching as Seongwoo’s eyebrows stop furrowing and puts on a blank face instead. Jihoon laughs nervously. “What prank is this? You’re scaring me.”

Seongwoo blinks, once, twice, and Jihoon copies.

Then the Slytherin just smiles ruefully, shakes his head, and hightails out of the place, leaving Jihoon more puzzled than ever.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(jiu)**

 

It is difficult to bump into Seongwoo because of different years and different houses. When Jihoon does meet the other though, Seongwoo would give him a smile and a greeting to which Jihoon eagerly responds, but after his behavior yesterday, Jihoon doesn’t know what to do if he actually does meet him today.

He has been sobbing and mourning for his grandmother after being informed of her already deceased the whole day yesterday, minus the morning incident, and one of his ways of not letting it affect him (it’s a struggle for him) is thinking about Seongwoo.

He spends his day being anxious about Seongwoo’s behavior, because he was so silent and it was so not him, so Jihoon is determined to ask him about it when he sees him today.

Seongwoo was acting weird. _Why?_ Did he fail a class? No, although Seongwoo is smart, Jihoon knows him enough that he wouldn’t let that problem affect him. _Did he breakup with someone?_   No, his relationship with Daniel is steady — they are one of the most popular couples in Hogwarts, and Daniel really really loves Seongwoo! _Why would he dump him?_   All possible scenarios appear in Jihoon’s mind, and he groans inwardly because is he really fussing over his senior from another house?

_Right!_

What if it was because he also saw Taehyung and Jungkook before Jihoon had entered? Maybe he wanted to use the washroom but the couple halted him from doing so, so he left the area and found Jihoon once he does? But then again, it’s not like him and Daniel aren’t like that! Sure, they don’t really do PDA, but still, he should know how couples are like.

Jihoon’s internal crisis is over when he spots Seongwoo. He rushes over to the elder who is surrounded by his group of friends. “Oh hey, winkie!” he calls out, laughing while he ruffles Jihoon’s hair.

Jihoon doesn’t reply to his greeting and only asks him a question on the spot. “Hyung, are you a _prude_?”

Seongwoo’s mouth is open, and his other friends have stopped talking to look at Jihoon who is staring at Seongwoo with wide, curious eyes, obviously not realising the elder’s boyfriend is there.

“What makes you think that?” Seongwoo asks, then breaks out into a laughter with his other friends. Jihoon stares at him, and flicks his gaze to Daniel who’s smiling while shaking his head as if he is fond of the short junior in front of him.

He returns his gaze back to Seongwoo.

“No, Hoonie, I don’t think so,” he confirms, shaking his head.

Jihoon’s eyebrows are pulled together. “But yesterday, why were y—“

“I’m sorry, wink boy, I’d love to talk but I gotta go right now! The teacher wanted to meet up! Next time, yeah?” He cuts Jihoon off, looking at him apologetically before running off to the other direction.

“But—“ Jihoon tries, but whines petulantly when Seongwoo is out of his vision. He grins at Seongwoo’s friends, and runs away.

 _That was so embarrassing!_ he screams inwardly as he rushes to his next class.

He bumps into someone in front of said class, and quickly apologizes with a desperate tone because he is still flushed due to the previous incident. His eyes are shut and his books are in between his arms and armpits, while he puts both of his hands in front of his nose and mouth as if begging for mercy.

He snaps one of his eyes open and staggers when he is faced with a blank-faced Woojin.

“Oh my God, you _scared_ me,” Jihoon says, hands now over his chest.

He purses his lips, preparing for a remark by Woojin or anything vexing, but he gets none as Woojin only enters the class without looking back at him.

Jihoon stares at his figure, unblinking, and slowly follows him into the same class.

Woojin didn’t even roll his eyes, didn’t even make a sound nor did he move to attack. Jihoon’s head is about to blow up as he slips into his seat.

_Why is everything so weird?_

 

 

* * *

 

 

**(null)**

 

Jihoon stays back as the others exit the classroom, unmoving as he stares at his desk. He sighs and picks up his stuff before approaching his teacher.

“Sir, don’t you think it’s a bad idea to pair me up with Woojin?” he asks in a small voice, fiddling with his fingers.

He has never really confronted his teacher like this, because normally Woojin does this (not that their teacher listens to them, only aiming to get them both to get along — never worked either, as both end up doing the work individually, and the teachers will end up sighing as they stare at two projects when they were only supposed to receive one) and Jihoon would only stare at him, knowing that there will be no other choice.

But somehow, today, Woojin just leaves the classroom without any complaints, and Jihoon had to pinch himself multiple times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

The teacher sighs. “I know. The last time I did this, both of you didn’t meet the deadline, blaming each other for not doing the work, which was very disappointing because both of you are two of the brightest students,” he says, and Jihoon smiles sheepishly at his scrunched expression. “But that was in year two, and I’m your teacher again but this time you’re older and I know you won’t fail me this time.”

“Every teacher says that but it ends up a mess,” Jihoon mutters to himself, but the teacher hears him just fine.

He sighs. “It’s time for you to get along.”

“You think I never wanted that?” Jihoon almost snaps, but he apologizes quickly because of his tone but the teacher just waves him off.

“I know how frustrating Slytherins are, but I think Woojin feels the same way. I’m pretty sure he wants to end this as well.”

 _I told myself that every time but every time I try to approach him he pushes me away,_ Jihoon bites on his tongue to prevent the words from slipping out.

He nods instead, and bows. “We’ll try.”

“I know you will.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi)**

 

Jihoon is not sure how far his jaw has dropped, but he is sure it is enough to express his surprise when he sees Woojin slide into the seat in front of him in the library.

He looks like a fish gasping for air at this point when Woojin just stares at him with a judging look on his face. Jihoon closes his mouth, clears his throat and pushes his glasses up on the slope of his nose.

“Hey,” Jihoon says. “Wanna borrow my glasses to make sure you didn’t sit in front of the wrong person?” he asks, tilting his head while he points at his own spectacles.

Woojin looks at him like he has grown another head, before rolling his eyes and groaning. “This is why we’ll never get along.”

Jihoon freezes, smile still stuck on his face but this time he feels like he is being punched in the gut. He blinks once, and Woojin does the same. They both have this weird staring contest like they always do but instead of it being taunting, this time it is confusion coming from Jihoon and a blank stare from Woojin.

Jihoon feels his cheeks warming up because Woojin has never stared at him with zero disgust or hatred flowing in his eyes. He is the first one to break eye contact.

“You know that I only attack you before you do it to me.”

Hearing that, Woojin smirks.

“I feel the same way. _See_ , we’re never gonna be friends.”

It is Jihoon’s turn to roll his eyes. “Finally, something we both agree on.”

Woojin scoffs at that. “Whatever, I just want to get this project over with.”

“Hm, alright,” Jihoon gives in, and starts asking Woojin for some ideas, also giving out his own ideas to which the other only nods when he agrees or shakes his head and tries to make some changes when he disagrees. Even though Jihoon seems like he is keeping up, nodding at Woojin’s words, his mind is flying elsewhere because he is so perplexed.

Woojin is acting like they are normal schoolmates. Although he does not meet Jihoon’s gaze throughout the discussion, he is still acting so normal—wait, this is not normal, this is so strange and freaky. Jihoon tells himself that it is because Woojin is probably having a hard time right now and he really wants to feel sorry for the other but this is just so _so_ odd.

Jihoon is also having a hard time. His attempts at trying not to let the death of his grandmother affect him have not immensely been successful. It is hard for him to go to sleep so he fishes out his wand and whispers ‘ _lumos_ ’ as he opens his novel and starts reading to keep the sad thoughts away. He does not really go to the library anymore to do his work but instead he goes to the common room and quickly finish it so he can pull his knees up and wrap his arms around his legs on one of the seats, earning pitiful looks from others.

Some nights after classes he skips dinner to mourn in the courtyard under the tree because no one goes there when it is already dark. It is not like it is his purpose to cry, but he brings his book to read only to end up not having the mood and starts thinking about his grandmother.

He feels so bad that he is not able to attend her funeral, with his mother not giving him permission to do so and only tells him to be present in classes. He doesn’t know why but he still gets mad over it. He still receives letters everyday, with his mother telling him the same things to assure him. It works, _sort of,_ but Jihoon still wishes he was there.

The last time he saw his grandmother was months ago, when he came home on a holiday and she was still healthy and well, which is why it is so hard for him to believe all of this.

They end up splitting some parts to do individually and agree on meeting up again next week to see their progress and putting it together as a final product. Jihoon still can’t shake off the weird feeling but he is glad that he has less weight on his shoulders as Woojin just gives him a nod and leaves the library without looking at him directly in the eye.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi yi)**

 

Jihoon thinks he's over it.

But his heart seems to think otherwise when he ends up in the courtyard again with his papers drenched with tears. Everything seems so blurry, he does not know why his shoulders are heaving so much. _Is he still grieving for his grandmother?_

His mind is telling him _yes_ but his other body parts think that that is only one of the reasons why he is breaking down. Due to him overthinking because of losing a family member, he has not been performing well in classes. He should be glad that he does not have anyone like Woojin who’s making things worse. It is as if Woojin knows he’s facing a problem right now, but Jihoon thinks it’s because Woojin is also tired of this stupid rivalry.

Jihoon is too doleful to even think about him.

He stops making noise when he hears footsteps approaching, but keeps his head on his knees which are pulled up as he wraps his arms around himself. He freezes when he feels someone tap his shoulder.

“J-Jihoon?”

He hears someone say, and the voice is all too familiar that Jihoon feels himself tense up even further. He feels his heartbeat quickening, and he feels suffocated with his face pressed in between his knees and chest and it is a weird and uncomfortable position but if he lifts his head up the other will see his red eyes and the desire to end himself will be bigger.

The other clears his throat, and Jihoon hums in response.

Jihoon almost looks up when the other’s voice drops down to a baritone.

“Sorry about that, my voice sounds weird at night,” he says, chuckling in a nervous way that makes Jihoon so confused. He looks up due to curiosity, and is eye to eye with Seongwoo who is looking at him with a sad smile.

Jihoon chokes, and he starts coughing non-stop until tears spring out of the edge of his eyes again, and Seongwoo moves closer with a worried look and rubs his palm up and down Jihoon’s back in a reassuring manner. He shakes his head, pushing the other away.

“I’m sorry,” Jihoon tries to say, but his voice comes out a sob. He sniffs, pulling his knees down and rubbing his eyes aggressively to wipe his tears away. He stops crying and smiles while looking at his stretched out legs, putting his hands below his thighs. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

From the corner of his eye, he sees Seongwoo shake his head and appear in front of his view, face so close that Jihoon’s eyes widen and tries to back away. Seongwoo is looking at him with his eyes wide and his mouth opens and closes like he is about to say something but does not know how to express it without it being a misunderstanding. Jihoon just stares at him.

_What is he doing?_

This is not Seongwoo. He is so hesitant and so weird and maybe it’s because Jihoon is not that close to him but Jihoon is freaked out.

The elder then finally closes his mouth shut, bites on his lower lip and averts his eyes. He clears his throat, before looking at Jihoon with a grin that makes his eyes disappear into tiny crescents. Then he speaks out in a high-pitched voice.

“It’s okay!” he squeaks out cheerfully, and Jihoon’s mouth opens. He stares at Seongwoo who stares back at him with his smile slowly falling, then he darts his eyes every around Jihoon’s face except for his eyes. It takes him a few seconds before Jihoon bursts out laughing, hands covering his mouth.

“I’m not even gonna ask why you sound like that,” Jihoon says, voice teasing, doubts finally being washed away.

Seongwoo then breaks out into another grin. “Well! I’m gonna tell you anyway,” he responds in the same high-pitched tone. _Again,_ he clears his throat, and it drops to the same baritone Jihoon has heard earlier. “Please don’t mind me. At nights I usually talk in different tones as a warm up for my voice after a long day. You know, since I’m loud.”

Jihoon is still smiling but his eyes are filled with mirth and confusion mixed together. Though he should not really be surprised with his senior’s behavior and odd actions, but he is endearingly surprised.

He laughs again, looking down at his hands, not noticing the way Seongwoo is staring at him like it is his first time watching Jihoon smile genuinely, looking like he is infatuated with the sound of his laugh.

When Jihoon notices though, his laugh is fading along with his smile, and he feels his ears getting red with the warmth spreading to his cheeks. Seongwoo just stares at him until Jihoon snaps him out of his daze.

“So,” Jihoon starts. “What’re you doing out here?”

Seongwoo looks at the space behind Jihoon instead and starts spluttering. Jihoon tilts his head. Then Seongwoo sighs before shrugging, lips tugging into a lopsided grin.

Jihoon presses his lips together, still not being able to take in the different side of Seongwoo. He wants to ask another question, but Seongwoo suddenly stands up, brushes his robe and gives Jihoon a hand.

The younger takes it and stands in front of him. He gives Jihoon a smile before he waves and flees away, just like the other times, leaving Jihoon alone and completely baffled.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi er)**

 

It has been weeks since Jihoon finally accepts his grandmother’s death, and weeks since Jihoon and Woojin actually fought. Jihoon still goes to bed feeling so empty with confused thoughts about him actually ending a day without hearing any insults from Woojin. It's rare for Jihoon to initiate a fight so now that Woojin hasn’t started anything, they do not bicker at all.

It has also been a while since he last talked to Seongwoo. The last time being that one night with his pitched voice. Jihoon is honestly dreadful because he really wants to thank the elder for not asking any questions about him crying that night, and he just wants to see him again and have another actual conversation when his eyes are not red and puffy.

He has been on good terms with Woojin’s group of friends, who smile and wave at him when they see him—well, behind Woojin who doesn’t even spare him a glance. Jihoon is glad that they approached him one day and apologized for always helping Woojin out in making his life miserable, but Jihoon just laughed it off and told them that he ruins Woojin’s life as well anyway.

Although he is pretty flattered, he is still not satisfied with how Woojin decided to end all of this—him ignoring Jihoon’s presence instead of confronting. Jihoon knows he should do it if he wants to, but a part of him wants Woojin to do it to know if the other is really genuine and sorry.

“I have your grades for the recent project you all did. I’m sticking this list of the pairs on this wall so you guys can see it later after class,” their teacher informs, looking at all of them with a smile.

Jihoon feels a sense of giddiness washing through him, thinking about the times when he met up with Woojin to talk about their project like ordinary schoolmates, how his mind could not stop spinning and his heart could not stop racing because he felt a sense of closeness with Woojin at that time and he felt like they were... _bonding_.

But Woojin did not contact him at all after they handed in their project. He started treating like Jihoon was invisible and Jihoon tries to do the same but he still can’t stop himself from glancing at the other.

His eyes skim through the list to look for his name and he grins when he sees the excellent grade he got—that he and Woojin together got. This is the first time. This is the first time they did a project together and actually scored a very high mark. Doing the project together, it was also the first time they did it without trying to strangle each other and spoke more words than ever, and Jihoon is proud.

He is really, _really_ proud.

He is proud of himself. _And_ Woojin. He is proud of both of them.

He does not know what takes over him when he spins around, scanning for a certain brown-haired boy. When he does spot him, the boy is already looking at him, and his grin gets bigger. He does not know what takes over him when he rushes over to Woojin. He does not know what takes over him when he lets out an excited squeal. He does not know what takes over him when he pulls Woojin into a hug, and does not know what takes over him when he hugs tighter, saying, “We did it, Woojinie!”

He does not notice Woojin freezing. He only registers the situation when Woojin doesn't return the hug, only choosing to stand there with his mouth open. Jihoon’s eyes snap open, and his mouth goes dry. His throat goes dry. His body is heating up, but he is frozen. He’s stuck and he won’t move because he hears giggles and he feels eyes on him. This situation is all too familiar but this time instead of feeling his heart being ripped out out, his heart is doing this weird flipping thing and he feels like there are creatures flying in his stomach.

He pulls away, eyes wide open in horror as he stares at Woojin who’s wearing the same expression.

“I—“ he tries to say, but he does not know what to say. He does not know what to tell Woojin or what excuse to come up with because he is utterly mortified and is unable to process what just happened.

His stomach drops when Woojin pushes him away to leave the classroom.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi san)**

 

He is staring at his wand in his hands, in the same position as the last time he has been mourning for his grandmother.

But this time he is here because he has just done the most embarrassing thing ever.

The duel he had with Woojin back then was humiliating, _yes_ , but at least he had someone to be humiliated with. And although this time it is because of that certain someone, it is still him who's only humiliated. He has never done that before. He has never even tried to touch Woojin unless it is to taunt the hell out of him but _oh God,_ he thinks, _a hug?_

What was even more humiliating was that Woojin did not even return the hug!

What if they’re still rivals but Jihoon does not know that and now Woojin wants to start teasing him again and now has a thing to blackmail and use against Jihoon?!

He can already hear Woojin saying “I only tried to tolerate because I wanted a good mark, and to do that I had to stop fighting with you for a while but now we’re not partners anymore and I’m gonna make your life even more miserable than before!”

“You’re gonna snap that in half,” a voice says from above him. He doesn't realise he's shaking until he looks up. “I can hear your angry thoughts from there,” he articulates, pointing to the hallway before the courtyard, before shaking his head and grinning at the younger.

“Oh, Seongwoo hyung,” Jihoon says, also finally realising how he's frowning when he smiles instead, and Seongwoo notices how it doesn't reach his eyes. “We’re in this situation again.” He laughs.

Seongwoo furrows his eyebrows in confusion, settling down to sit next to Jihoon.

“Yeah?” He tilts his head, face showing innocence and unawareness. Jihoon nods, ignoring how the other seems like nothing has happened between them, and prods at the other’s shoulder.

“You still wanna warm up your vocal tones?” he asks with a teasing smile.

The elder only looks at him with a brow raised, then he starts laughing. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He sounds honest. “What’s gotten you so fussed up that you’re spurting out nonsense?”

Jihoon blinks up at him. “Nonsense? Didn’t you say...” he drifts off, shaking his head and sighs. Seongwoo is really weird so he should stop getting surprised and asking questions is helpless too. “I was in an embarrassing situation.”

Seongwoo chuckles, wrapping his arm around Jihoon’s shoulders. “What happened, kid?”

 _Kid? These weird nicknames never stop_ , Jihoon thinks.

“Help me get out of this,” he whines.

“How can I help you when I don’t know what happened?” Seongwoo ruffles his hair, laughing again.

“I hugged Woojin,” he says, voice barely above a breath.

“Hm?”

“I may have wrapped my arms around my biggest enemy.”

“Wrapping your arms around Woojin? His _neck_ , perhaps? Haven’t you done that countless times? Choking him?”

Jihoon makes a noise of disagreement, even though it’s entirely accurate.

“No, it was a—“ Jihoon chokes on his words. “I hugged him. It was... _soft_.”

Seongwoo doesn't hesitate to burst out into a loud laughter. His laughter bouncing off the walls of the hallway and the atmosphere in the courtyard. Jihoon scrambles to clamp a hand over his mouth before they gain attention from others. He gulps at the thought of Woojin being able to hear their conversation even if he rarely comes out here at night.

He stares at Seongwoo who stops laughing, but his eyes are still filled with amusement. Jihoon slowly takes his hand, fully trusting Seongwoo not to make any more noise.

He grins, wiggling his eyebrows. “Is this some kind of enemies to lovers drama? I’m starring in it, am I? The character who helps in making things right, the senior who helps two people in denial realise how in love they a—“

Jihoon clamps the same hand again, and groans at himself because he should have done it earlier, but he knows there was something in him that made him want to hear out the things he wanted to say.

He puts his hand down, fiddling with his fingers.

“You’re blushing.”

Jihoon groans again. “Bloody hell.” He feels the same feeling of warmth spreading from his ears to his cheeks, the same quick pace of heartbeat and the same feeling of wild creatures in his stomach. “We were never even friends. What was I thinking?” he grumbles.

“You know what they say, opposites attract! He’s the north pole because he’s cold as in heartless, as you say, and you’re the south pole because you’re hot as in hot-tempered. Are south poles hot? Anyways, north pole and south pole—opposites, magnet, attract! Maybe that’s what made you go to him. Hug him. Because you both actually attract!”

“Hyung, south poles are colder than north poles.” Jihoon looks at him quizzically. “And are you saying we’re _magnets_?”

Seongwoo nods happily. “Bingo!”

“And we’re attracted to each other? _Hyung_. Have you seen us together? We repel! He finds me repulsive and the feeling is mutual.”

“Maybe that’s what you think. From what I’ve heard and seen, both of you haven’t even said bickered for a long time.”

“That’s because we needed to get along to score a good mark for our project! The teacher paired us together and we had to.”

“Keep telling yourself that. You know you wanted to get along with him even if it weren’t for the project.”

“Well,” Jihoon mumbles. “That’s true.”

“Aha!”

“Because I’m tired of fighting! It’s normal to want to stop being enemies.”

“Of course it’s normal, but the way both of you are acting… Do you both even _hate_ each other?"

“Yeah? You’re not making any sense.”

“I know right.”

Jihoon finally lets out a breathy laugh. He shakes his head, and stands up. “Well, I gotta get back to the common room. Thanks for hearing me out.”

“Well, I did most of the talking and you did most of the denying—“

“Hyung.”

Seongwoo guffaws, standing up with Jihoon helping him up. He ruffles the younger’s hair again. “See you around, wink boy.”

“Bye, hyung!” He waves at him, and walks down the hallways.

He feels a weight being lifted off of his shoulders after having that conversation, but he stops in his tracks, letting out a whine when he realises he forgot to ask Seongwoo about their first weird incident together when they saw Taehyung and Jungkook making out.

He pouts, and brings his feet to start walking again, but he stops when a figure appears in front of him. He looks up to see a blushing Woojin with wide eyes, and Jihoon is still stuck with a pout on his face.

He shakes his head and gives the other a sheepish smile. “H-Hey Woojin.”

“J-Jihoon,” Woojin responds, voice smaller than Jihoon.

Jihoon suddenly feels a sense of deja vu with the way Woojin mutters his name, but he doesn't think about it much because he's instantly apologizing.

“Sorry about earlier today.” He's sure he has crimson cheeks right now, but he’s looking at his feet so Woojin can’t see them, and he's also trying to avoid his gaze.

“No,” Woojin says. “It’s fine.” Jihoon swears he hears his voice quivering.

Jihoon presses his lips together, not knowing what to say next. But he feels like he has to do it now, because if it backfires he can rush to the common room and has a whole night to come up with plans for facing Woojin whenever he has to.

He looks up to make the first move but the words are stuck on his throat when he sees Woojin unexpectedly blushing and landing his eyes on everywhere else except for him.

“Woojin?” he murmurs. “Are you okay?” He steps forward to put a convincing hand on Woojin’s shoulder.

Woojin seems to sense his next action so he quickly shoves his hand away and scurries past Jihoon. Jihoon moves, almost trying to follow but his feet are stuck and once again, he is numb.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi si)**

 

Jihoon looks at his feet before staring at the door of the classroom nervously. He looks back at his feet, his shaking hands, the corridor, the door, and repeat.

“Freaking Mark,” he mutters under his breath. Mark told him to do this, because Jihoon is a coward to ask Woojin himself and Mark is exasperated and tired of hearing his non-stop grousing. Jihoon was against it at first, but it is his only choice to stop himself from being cuckoo.

His pattern is broken when his eyes move from his hands to the door when he hears the shuffling of feet and people chattering. He waits for his target to come out and dashes to him once he does.

“Hey, Guanlin!” he hollers, unintentionally gathering attention of the others in the area. He wraps his arms around the tall boy’s arm and looks up at him.

Guanlin is already looking and his eyes are round and bigger than usual and he has a tense smile on his face as if scared to return the physical contact.

“Jihoon hyung,” he says, voice cracking. Jihoon blinks.

“What?”

“What are you doing here?” he questions, still tense and voice shaking. His eyes are moving around their surroundings and that’s when Jihoon notices his discomfort.

He lets go.

“Sorry, I didn’t know you—“

“No, _no_! I didn’t mean it like that,” Guanlin almost shouts, pouting when Jihoon moves further away from his space. Then he grabs Jihoon’s wrist and brings them away from this place.

They start walking side by side, along with the others who do not glance at their way.

“I just,” Guanlin stammers. “I- I was surprised to see you.”

“That makes me feel bad. Should I go pick you up from your classes often?” Jihoon jokes. He wraps his arm around Guanlin’s waist when Guanlin puts an arm around Jihoon’s shoulders.

“Really? Would you do that?” he vocalizes, stopping their steps in the middle of the hallway to indicate his excited face when he turns to Jihoon.

Jihoon raises a brow. “I was only kidding.”

Guanlin then pouts, continuing to walk again. “You’re mean.”

Then Jihoon wraps both of his arms around Guanlin’s waist while his body is bubbling with laughter.

“I’m kidding! I’ll do it more often when I’m free since you want to. Anything for my favourite junior,” he insists.

“Oh, wait until I tell Jinyoung hyung about this! I can’t believe I’m your favourite.”

“Right,” Jihoon says, as if he is just realising something. He puts on a shamefaced expression. “I’m sorry, but you can’t beat pretty little Jinyoungie.”

Guanlin then whines, shaking Jihoon in his arms. “Hyuuung.”

Jihoon cackles, and grins at Guanlin afterwards. “Kidding again, you’re the cutest!”

He continues to grin at Guanlin when the younger hinders them from moving again. He looks in front, eyes wide and mouth agape and Jihoon can sense him wanting to say something but nothing is coming out.

“Are you that weak to compliments?” Jihoon tries to chaff. “Remind me to compliment you more often because your reaction is _so_ —“ He moves his head from staring at Guanlin to the person standing in front of them. “—hilarious,” he finishes with a whisper.

In front of them, in full glory it's the one and only Park Woojin (Jihoon didn’t say that).

He is astounded when he attempts to read Woojin’s expression. He looks… _angry_. His eyes are filled with annoyance and displeasure and they are moving from Guanlin’s face to Jihoon’s face to his shoulders where Guanlin’s arm is to Jihoon’s arms which are wrapped around Guanlin to the non-existent space in between them and back to Guanlin. He presses his lips together, raising a brow.

Jihoon lets out a small squawk when Guanlin suddenly thrusts him away from his touch like he is something repugnant until Jihoon staggers and lands on his butt along with his broken heart. He groans, and looks up at Guanlin for an explanation, but the younger only looks distressed, eyes moving from Woojin to Jihoon to Woojin to Jihoon and Jihoon does the same, from Guanlin to Woojin to Guanlin to Woojin and he is so dizzy.

“Guanlin,” Woojin’s voice booms to his ears even though he is using his normal tone, but this time it sounds so dangerous and Jihoon is reminded of all their frustrating arguments and he wants to break down all of a sudden.

He watches as Guanlin walking over to Woojin, and both of them leave Jihoon there, on the ground.

He is really tired of this.

He thought he could befriend Woojin’s friends without Woojin complaining, because it's not like Jihoon is talking to him anyway. He should have realised it when Woojin is always more furious than usual when Jihoon tries to respond to his friends who are trying to talk to him, and he should have comprehended their behavior when Woojin is around, suddenly wanting to stop their conversation and waving goodbye.

It was why he always met up with Jinyoung and Guanlin without the presence of a certain… someone.

He has grown a liking towards them both but he really thinks that they should not be friends when they are too uneasy talking to him just because their real best friend hates him.

He gives up.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi wu)**

 

“Mark, I didn’t even have time to ask Guanlin before he was pulled away by the devil,” Jihoon says bitterly, the world _devil_ leaving his tongue like some kind of poison.

“I’m sorry. You wanted to know why Woojin was acting weird, but you couldn’t talk to him so I thought it was a good idea for you to bring it up with Guanlin.”

“It’s fine.” Jihoon sighs, plopping down onto his bed. “This is pathetic.”

“No. Woojin is.”

“I agree. He’s pathetic.”

“Glad to hear the number one Woojin anti is back.”

Jihoon makes sure to not miss Mark’s face when he throws the pillow.

“You sure you don’t wanna be the chaser anymore?”

“Seeking is fun.”

“Seeking with Park Woojin is fun.”

Jihoon throws another pillow but Mark dodges from it this time.

“I’m going to the library.”

“Alright,” Mark replies. “Come back for dinner.”

“I will.”

He finds himself in the library with a new novel, reading it with his back leaning on the chair. Everything is going fine until someone slinks into the seat beside him. He does not look up until the person calls his name.

“Jihoon hyung.”

He glances to his side and sees Jinyoung with a smile. His thoughts of not wanting to be friends with Woojin’s close friends vanish immediately.

“Hey Jinyoungie,” Jihoon responds, closing his book. “What’s up?”

He shrugs, putting his head on the table in front of them. “I’m bored.”

“Really? Where are the others?” Jihoon asks, laughing at the other’s sour expression.

“Guanlin has classes, Hyunjin is out with his girlfriend, Minhyun hyung is meeting up with his teacher,” Jinyoung grumbles. “And Daehwi is doing a project with Samuel from Ravenclaw,” he grits out resentfully.

Jihoon can’t hold back the smile on his face while swallowing the question of Woojin’s whereabouts, not wanting to sound suspicious. He puts his hand on Jinyoung’s head, ruffling his hair softly. “Aw, it’s fine, you have me now.”

“Samuel likes Daehwi, I can tell.” He sighs.

“Who doesn’t?” Jihoon chuckles, but it dies when Jinyoung turns to glare at him. “Daehwi loves you too much to leave you for Samuel.”

Jinyoung grumbles but his ears are red, and Jihoon grins proudly at that.

“Baejin, there you are,” someone utters. Both of them look up and sees Woojin standing there.

Jihoon quickly retracts his hand and grabs his book. He gets up from his seat, ignoring Jinyoung’s confused look. He gets up as well, opens his mouth to ask where is he going but Jihoon beats him to it.

“I gotta go. Bye Jinyoungie,” Jihoon announces, not sparing a glance at Woojin when he passes by.

He almost barrels out of the place, and he sighs in relief when he finally escapes.

Dinner — _right_. _Eating will make me feel better,_ he thinks. He really feels his hands shaking again when he thinks about the situation he would be in when Woojin found him with one of his close friends again.

He yelps when someone grabs his wrist, stopping him from walking.

He doesn't hide his bewilderment when he meets Woojin’s eyes. He wriggles out of Woojin’s grasp with his eyes wide in fear because he does not want Woojin beating him up right now just because of him interacting with Slytherin Bae Jinyoung.

“Woojin, stop,” he cries out offhandedly. Woojin is so strong, and Jihoon is weak – both physically and mentally.

“Jihoon–“

Eventually he manages to get Woojin out of his reach and he starts to run but Woojin goes after him, blocking his way and Jihoon tries to turn around the other way but he stops him again, fingers gripping Jihoon’s shoulders.

Jihoon bites on his lower lip, looking into Woojin’s eyes with his tears threatening to fall.

He doesn't let them fall.

“I don’t want to deal with this right now,” he admits in a low voice.

“No, just, just give me a second.”

Woojin looks pained for a second, judging by the grimace on his face, but it disappears and he takes a deep breath.

“I’m sorry.”

 _No,_ I’m sorry _, did I hear that wrongly?_

“Huh?”

Woojin’s face twists into the same winced expression.

“I’m sorry that you can’t be friends with my friends.”

Jihoon stares at him for a full minute, then he starts tittering.

“God, me too, honestly.” He hopes it comes out sarcastic as that is his intention.

He raises his eyebrows, ignoring the way his heart drops to his stomach when he realises he just made a wrong assumption again. Here he is, almost letting his walls down after thinking Woojin is apologizing for everything.

He gulps when Woojin drops his hands from his shoulders to his side.

“Look. I’m sorry you can’t be friends with my friends, I’m sorry it’s because we hate each other–“ He pauses, and Jihoon stops himself from blurting out ‘ _I don’t think I do_ ’ and lets Woojin continue. “–I’m sorry we can’t get along because we can’t stand each other.”

Jihoon finally lets out his first sob for Woojin to hear, and after five years he finally allows his first tear to slip from his eye in front of Woojin.

Jihoon thinks he imagined the dilated pupils of Woojin’s, because the next second Woojin is looking away.

“Why do you hate me so much?” Jihoon croaks out.

“I–“ Woojin starts, and Jihoon looks down at the ground where he sees a drop of his tear stained.

“You hate me, don’t you?” He looks up, and Woojin looks frightened, and Jihoon does not care anymore that his tears dampen his cheeks.

Woojin hesitates, with the way his throat seems to moving and mouth gaping, but nothing comes out.

“Say it,” Jihoon mumbles.

“I do.”

“Thought so.” He clicks his tongue. “Why?” He stops crying, but doesn't bother to wipe his cheeks.

“I hate you because you make me feel, _things_ ,” he starts. Jihoon doesn't dare to interrupt. “No one makes me angry like you do. Your personality, your being, your whole existence, truthfully. There are so many things why I hate about you. You seem like you talk to everyone and have lots of friends but when we quarrel you’re mostly on your own and you look like a loner it’s so vexing, _honestly_. I’d like to go on but I really don’t wanna see you cry anymore.”

Jihoon thinks that it’s Woojin’s breath that has hitched, not his.

“You’re a crybaby it’s annoying I hate it, so _stop_ crying! I also hate when you wear that Gryffindor robe and look so small even when you’re almost the same height as me but obviously I’m taller and those round glasses; I hate how you look really soft and adorable when you scrunch up your nose wearing those round glasses and the look on your face when you score a really good– _wait_.”

His face goes pale and Jihoon is muddled because he looks like he’s seen a ghost and when the next millisecond Jihoon blinks he is gone.

 

 

* * *

 

 

**(shi liu)**

 

“Can you,” he pauses to clear his throat and continues in a low-pitched voice, “do all the talking this time? Express your feelings.” He looks at Jihoon and his eyes are filled with pure anxiousness. “I know you have a lot to let out,” he whispers this time in his normal pitch, but Jihoon feels like his voice is still different. It doesn't sound like Seongwoo.

Jihoon looks at him, eyes unsure and mouth opening and closing as if about to deny but he is really out of it tonight and Seongwoo seems _not-so-Seongwoo_ and Jihoon is worried that he will make Seongwoo regret for showing his different side.

At first he wanted to ask the elder about his odd behavior at nights because he is so so different that Jihoon is anxious as well. But the way Seongwoo told him about not wanting to talk a lot at night also known as the time when Jihoon is able to get ahold of him to have a long conversation, Jihoon never asks.

He takes a deep breath and Seongwoo just nods at him. Jihoon stares at him before flitting his eyes away to his own hands. He starts talking about his grandmother, about how she has cared for him when she was still here in this world, and about how he handled her death, then he goes on talking about how he has been treating his friends because he always wanted time alone so they do not see him cry, about his classes, his classmates, his teachers and how he is going to miss Hogwarts even though he has two years left and he is only in his fifth year.

“Hyung, it’s your last year, I’m gonna miss you,” he adds, looking at Seongwoo.

Seongwoo looks offended. “ _No_? I’m the same as you,” he replies in a very very non-Seongwoo tone.

Jihoon squints his eyes at him. “Why do you sound so weird?” he blurts out, and Seongwoo’s eyes widen.

He says in a high-pitched tone this time, stammering which is _not-so-Seongwoo_ , “Got you! It’s a tone I’ve been working on but _no_ , it’s about _you_ tonight! Not me.”

Jihoon bites on his tongue to prevent himself from questioning his intention of trying out different tones because this is so so abnormal but Seongwoo is still his senior and he does not want to disrespect him.

“Woojin,” Jihoon says.

“H-Huh?” Seongwoo looks startled that Jihoon is more amused than confused.

“I mean,” he says. Sighing when he feels himself heating up. “He’s just so confusing. Did you know we actually sort of became friends at first?” Seongwoo hums, questioning. Jihoon laughs at the memory. “I don’t know what happened. I thought we would be friends because he seemed like he wanted to be.”

He sighs again and shakes his head.

“One day, he just indicated that he didn’t want to, always giving me the cold shoulder, and I got the message immediately, that he hates me for a reason I don’t know of.”

Seongwoo whimpers at that, Jihoon ignores him because his mind is only about _Woojin Woojin Woojin_ right now and he is almost losing it.

“It hurt because we never really talked and I didn’t do anything to him, but I think I started to feel the same way, because he picked on me whenever and wherever he wants to, and with my Gryffindor pride and all, I fought back. At one point, he stopped, and I was glad but I felt… incomplete? I think it was because I wanted an apology but he never gave me it.”

He huffs out a breath, warmth now spreading to his cheeks.

“But he gave me a chance to know him even more. In that little time when we stopped acting like cats and dogs, I found out that he’s someone who doesn’t really hold his heart out in the open. His heart is in his clenched fists where he doesn’t want to unclench and he just keeps it there, tense and all and, of course, uses that fist to ruin my face.”

Seongwoo whimpers again.

“I feel like he’s just someone who doesn’t like being threatened, and I started regretting all of the time I spat out offensive remarks. He seems like a person who does that to others to not make himself look vulnerable and weak, and I’m the unlucky one who got chosen.

“He hurt me, a lot, but years later I’ve grown to realise that it seems like he never means them, and I sound like I’m conceited but that’s when his words stop affecting me. But what doesn’t stop injuring me was the fact that he still does not want to let his guard down. He’s someone who’s capable of being nice, but it’s like he doesn’t know what to say, where to start.

“Sometimes I think it’s the fact that he’s in Slytherin that changed his mindset, but Slytherins do not have to be better than the others. It’s okay to make mistakes but Woojin… once he makes a mistake he doesn’t fix it because he doesn’t know how to and doesn’t want to be at the wrong side.

“There are times when I found Woojin at his weakest, eyes actually filled with pity after he broke my arm, the way he stared at me with guilt when we did the cleaning together after we got in trouble, the regretful look he always had on his face for a millisecond after I land on my butt. I hated how I was able to catch his soft gaze looking at me when we did the project, but it was gone to a blank expression so fast that I thought I was imagining it.”

“I don’t think it was an imagination,” Seongwoo finally whispers.

“How would _you_ know that?” Jihoon says, letting out a bitter laugh. “He’s so confusing that I don’t know whether I like him or hate him.”

“ _Like_ him?” Seongwoo’s voice is so small Jihoon almost doesn’t catch it.

“At one point, I think I fancied him.” Jihoon frowns. “He’s intriguing. There are things about him that I want to know about him, what to understand, and I want him to let me know. I want to show him that I’m here for him and he can break down whenever.”

At this point his voice is weak and he is speaking so fast, barely taking a breath between every sentence.

“I hate that he feels the need to put a barrier to defend himself! He does not have to continue being the stony, cold-hearted and reserved Park Woojin,” Jihoon sniffles, feeling the wetness of his cheeks.

He wipes his tears away and stares at his fingers.

He chuckles. “I never told anyone these things. Not even myself.”

He looks up at Seongwoo, and Seongwoo’s eyes are red like he just cried and his lower lip is wobbling and Jihoon is flabbergasted.

“Hyung?”

“I like you,” he confesses.

Jihoon feels his heart stop, and he looks at Seongwoo to find the humour in his eyes but he only finds sincerity in them.

He is about to speak up, about to stand up and run away and not think about how he is ruining a relationship— the one Seongwoo has with Daniel.

But Seongwoo doesn't let him.

“Wait, Jihoon,” he says in a voice too familiar.

“I’m insane. I’m going insane. First you tell me about your feelings for me and the next you sound so _so_ much like Woojin I am losing my mind—“

“Jihoon,” he cuts, still sounding like Woojin and Jihoon thinks he is really crazy and whipped that he only hears Woojin’s voice. He feels bad for Seongwoo that he awfully wants to go.

“W-What?” His voice is shaking. He's shaking. He looks at Seongwoo to tell him it is all a joke, a prank, but Seongwoo just stares at him.

He should have known better.

He should have connected the dots together because Seongwoo rarely calls him by his actual name.

Then Jihoon witnesses the biggest plot twist of his life.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

One thing Woojin does not like is defeat.

He has spent most of his life as the only child, so he is always number one when it comes to his parents’ priorities. He is spoiled because he has been pampered a lot, which is why Woojin does not like the feeling of coming in as second.

So when he meets Park Jihoon, his life goes downhill.

Ever since he first met him on the train, there is always the _danger!_  sign flashing on top of his head when Woojin sees him, and Woojin automatically feels his skin prickling with fear and he does not like that. He does not like the feeling of fear. Fear of someone being better than him. Fear of someone taking his number one spot.

He panics when he sees Jihoon, all too bubbly looking (and good looking? He's not sure.) and confident that Woojin wants him to break down.

He has also thought about stopping.

A lot of times he just contemplates Jihoon from afar, wanting to stop being enemies, wanting to stop hurting the other, wanting himself to shut up and stop blurting out words he does not mean. He wants to be friends.

(Or something more?)

It breaks his heart to see how Jihoon is so comfortable and adorable when he’s not around Woojin. Grinning and teasing and clinging to others, and not him.

“Woojin, you’re an idiot,” Jinyoung deadpans when he catches Woojin staring at Jihoon.

“Where’s the hyung, you brat,” he snaps.

“Why are you staring at him like that? Make a move.”

“Like what?”

“Like he’s way too out of your league and you can’t have him at all but you want to. You’re in love.”

“I’m gonna pretend you don’t mean that.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you grew up with the thought that your crush will like you back if you treat them badly.”

Woojin looks at him. “Crush? Are you talking about Jihoon?” He shakes his head furiously in disagreement, then stops, looking up at Jinyoung. “A-and really? It’s no wonder he hates me right?”

He drifts off, staring at the space in front of him, lips pursing and eyebrows pulled together to their furthest.

Jinyoung looks at him with wide incredulity.

“ _Hyung_!”

Woojin hates it.

He hates Jihoon.

When he sees Jihoon now, it is still fear. But now it is fear of not being able to see Jihoon behave that way — nicely, the way he treats everyone else who’s not Woojin — around him.

What stops him from apologizing is the reminder that Jihoon already fully hates him. Woojin knows all of the unpleasant things he did to Jihoon and they are enough for him to regret everything.

But he thinks it’s too late, seeing the way Jihoon tenses up when he catches Woojin’s gaze, soft look gone and is replaced with hatred instead, and Woojin would silently gulp before starting to mock the other, heart still tightly clenched in his fist because he knows that he can’t have Jihoon anymore, not when he has done horrible things to the other.

No, Jihoon deserves someone better.

In conclusion, the things that Woojin dislikes are: defeat, the second place, and Jihoon, because Jihoon is the person who defines the word for him — the only person who makes him feel defeated.

He hates it.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(yi)**

 

Woojin doesn't know what took over him when he casted that spell.

He really wants to prove everyone that he is able to do it, that he really is Slytherin’s seeker and he is worthy and deserving of the title.

But it's hard when Jihoon is there, making Woojin feeling weak as usual and as usual Woojin’s self mechanism begins to attack Jihoon in the ugliest ways possible.

Grabbing the snitch, he feels proud. He's able to feel his heart thumping harshly in his chest because he did it. He successfully made Slytherin win and he's so ecstatic hearing the cheers from the audience.

Unexpectedly he falls off his broomstick after someone pushes him, and he is both confused and furious when he finds out it was none other than Park Jihoon.

He honestly felt like he was on the peak of death — images of his loved ones flashed into his mind, and he felt his heart exploding in _Thank You God_ when Jinyoung came to scoop him up.

“Why did that idiot push me?” Woojin huffs out, standing on his feet on the ground and rubbing his robe.

Jinyoung shrugs. “That was dangerous, though, I don’t know why would he do something like that,” he grumbles. “Anyways, congrats hyung. Knew you could do it.” He smiles.

Woojin grins.

“Of course,” he gloats.

It is not until later he understands why Jihoon has pushed him.

Woojin is freaking out in the inside because he didn't think anyone would notice him casting a spell on Yoojung, and out of all people who did, of course it had to be _Park Jihoon_.

He pretends not to care anyway, but when Jihoon threatens to spill this to everyone, Woojin is livid, and he decides that once again, he hates Park Jihoon.

“I hate _you_ , you know that?” Jihoon says it instead.

Something inside of Woojin breaks, and he feels as if someone has cut his oxygen supply, and suddenly his throat is dry and he swears Jihoon is about to cry in front of him.

“You remind me this everyday.”

Woojin thinks the feeling is mutual.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(er)**

 

Woojin sighs.

In another universe, he thinks he has a crush on Jihoon without any doubts.

 _Jihoon is actually pretty handsome_ , he thinks.

Jinyoung and Guanlin are talking and he's watching Jihoon who's exiting out of class to the hallway where they are currently standing.

This is not that universe.

This universe, he _hates_ and doesn’t care how good Jihoon looks.

And he hates Jihoon because Jihoon hates him and the said boy just called him a fool.

The said boy also landed his fist on him and Woojin is really surprised.

He wavers for a second, thinking about how he has probably stepped over the line – he made Jihoon snap and lose control even though he never wanted this, but Jihoon is still attacking.

“I’m flattered,” Jihoon says, and he looks like he can’t believe that he just did what he did.

Woojin thinks he looks so funny because he looks so innocent but Woojin is mortified so he is fuming instead.

“Because?”

“You called me a pretty boy.”

He freezes when he heard his friends snickering at that, and Woojin does not like this.

Woojin hates that Jihoon just mentioned the words that slipped out of his tongue and Woojin hates how he lets it slip.

He hates it because he has never planned to admit that and knowing his friends, they will never shut up about it.

“Hey! Come back here you freaking—!”

 _I’ll get you,_ Park Jihoon _. You’re going down._

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(san)**

 

Woojin is frustrated.

“Can you guys shut up?”

“Admit it Woojin, you find Jihoon cute,” Hyeongseop says.

“No, _you’re_ cuter.”

“I’m flattered.”

And Jihoon appears in Woojin’s mind, saying the same words as Hyeongseop and he is totally out of his mind.

He groans.

“I hate him so much.”

“And he is _very_ adorable. Don’t you think so, Guanlin?” Jinyoung adds, blinking up at Guanlin mockingly.

Guanlin nods. “Park Jihoon hyung is handsome, actually, and I’m saying the truth.”

“What?” Woojin’s head snaps up at Guanlin who’s looking like a high school girl in love all of a sudden. He glares at him. “So _you_ have a crush on him?”

Woojin really doesn't expect Guanlin to start spluttering, and he watches as Guanlin’s ears turn red.

“Interesting,” Woojin responds maliciously.

“ _Hyung_ , i-it’s not like that!” he whines.

He doesn’t respond. He isn’t sure what the feeling of discomfort creeping up his skin means, doubtful whether it is jealousy or irritation because he can’t have his best friend dating his _enemy_.

In that moment, said enemy appears in his vision.

“Adios, friends,” he says, walking towards Jihoon.

Woojin doesn't know if it is because of Guanlin’s behaviour, or because of Jihoon punching him in the face yesterday.

But Woojin knows that there were lots of spells being thrown to one another. He remembers the feeling when Jihoon first sends him flying until his back hits the concrete wall.

“Everte statum!”

He groans while Jihoon stares at him in horror, gasping like he casted the spell impulsively and that he wants to apologize and take it back, but Woojin thinks he’s just started a duel.

“Oh, it’s _on_ ,” he hisses when he gets up.

In the end, Jihoon knows better spells than him, and he really hates that.

He hates how he ended up below Jihoon.

He was about to cast another spell while he was lying on the ground, but Jihoon quickly stopped him.

“Expelliarmus!”

Woojin’s wand flies out of his grasp, then Jihoon jumps on top of him and Woojin was too weak to move so he admits defeat.

And he hates it.

He also hates that the teacher asked them to spend more time together. Woojin doesn’t like this idea. _No_. He does not want to be nearer to Jihoon.

_Fear?_

Fear of hurting Jihoon again? Fear of actually realising he doesn't want to hurt Jihoon anymore?

He tells himself it is fear of facing Jihoon after losing a fight.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(si)**

 

Woojin gawks at the teacher when she tells them to clean the same place as Jihoon.

He really doesn't feel like being in the same place with Jihoon right now. Not after what they did and how it ended. Woojin is still very ashamed that he was _defeated_ , and him facing his opponent after the incident isn’t a very good idea.

“But I wanna clean the potions classroom—” he tries.

The teacher doesn’t let him, and he has to stop himself from hightailing out of the place and cast a spell to kill himself just to get out of this situation.

He follows Jihoon to the library, trying so hard not to roll his eyes because he really doesn't want Jihoon to look down on him now just because he won _one_ fight against Woojin.

He doesn't roll his eyes.

Instead, he watches as Jihoon’s lips form into a smile when they enter the library.

 _That’s a nice smile_ , he thinks.

Then he slaps himself, before blurting out, “Isn’t this clean already? Now we can go to another place—”

“Thought you didn’t wanna clean.”

And all of the nice thoughts of Jihoon dissipate on instant and he rolls his eyes. Jihoon is so freaking impudent he hates it.

When they arrange the books together, Woojin finds himself frowning. He feels bad that he actually brought Jihoon into this.

Even though the other looks so contented, Woojin has feelings, and right now his feelings are guilt and shame because if he didn’t bother Jihoon in the first place, they wouldn’t end up here — wasting their time cleaning when there are certainly spells for it.

His thoughts are muddled and his frown is deepening and he doesn't realise what he’s doing until Jihoon’s voice seeps into his mind.

“That should be in there.”

He sounds so nice and Woojin hates it. He should be angry at Woojin for bringing them here, but he sounds so well and there is no wrath in his tone at all.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

He cusses inwardly, feeling himself on fire because Jihoon saw him spacing out, and of course he had to see Woojin make a mistake in arranging the books.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(liu)**

 

 As much as Woojin acts like he's heartless, he actually learns his lessons.

This time he doesn't dare to cheat.

Not sure if it's because he doesn't want to risk anyone spotting him or if he does not really want Jihoon to view him as a cheater — what makes things worse is that Jihoon is also a seeker this time, and he's cursing a lot under his breath because _why why why why why._

“Scared, Park?” he tries to taunt.

When in reality, he is the one who's terrified.

He doesn't want to fail. He wants to prove to Jihoon that he can succeed without cheating, but how can he do that when there’s a little part of him wants Jihoon to actually win — to actually have fun and taste victory as being Gryffindor’s seeker for the first time?

Woojin stares at Jihoon a lot.

Before the match, he saw Jihoon shaking and lips trembling and he really tried not to hiss when he saw Seongwoo so near to Jihoon — thinking that Woojin is able to do that by himself but then the hiss is meant for himself because he was rooted to his spot — telling him some encouraging words, and Jihoon gave him a shy smile, nodding.

Seongwoo left but Woojin still noticed Jihoon’s hands shaking, and Woojin felt a thump in his heart.

He looked away.

He watches as Jihoon stop mid-air to cheer for his team after one of their chasers scored a goal, and Woojin digs his nails into his palm because Jihoon looks so pure, but Woojin hates defeat.

So that thought takes over him as he prevents Jihoon from catching the snitch.

He rolls his eyes when he sees a pretty girl rushing over to Jihoon when he almost fell after Woojin pushed him.

In the end, he realises he is not after the snitch, but he's after Jihoon.

“No!” he shrieks when Jihoon almost grabs ahold of the snitch.

Woojin’s reflexes tell him to go over to Jihoon and push him, and so he does.

He watches, wide-eyed, as Jihoon falls from his broomstick. He's falling in the air, and Woojin's only watching. Regret washes over him immediately as Jihoon screams, not being able to save himself.

Then Woojin doesn't know what happened, how’d it happen, but he barks out a spell, and he thinks an invisible cushion appears just after Jihoon’s arm land on the ground first, with his body following afterwards onto the cushion, making it look like he’s still a few centimeters above the ground but he can’t go down further. Woojin bites his lower lip, and watches Jihoon’s face twist into something awful.

“Park Jihoon has caught the snitch! Gryffindor wins!”

He's not sure if he is mad at himself for losing or for hurting Jihoon.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(qi)**

 

 “I saw you casting a cushioning charm!” Jinyoung exclaims. “When the heck did you learn?”

“I have no idea,” he responds, voice strained because he has spent his night not being able to get a blink of sleep, busy worrying about breaking a certain someone’s arm and how he's definitely in trouble.

“Speaking of cushions, _you_ pushed him.”

“I did.”

“But you also saved him from having a bigger injury.”

“He broke his arm.”

“He could have broken something else if you weren’t there.”

 “If I wasn’t there, he wouldn’t have fallen in the first place,” he says blankly, staring at the wall in front of him. Beside him, Jinyoung sighs.

“Visit him.”

Woojin finally makes an expression other than a blank one. “Are you crazy?”

“No, I’m serious. If you feel bad, you gotta apologize.”

“I don’t feel bad!”

 Jinyoung stares at him quizzically, and Woojin feels offended.

“I’m out.”

“Woojin—”

He ignores Jinyoung, and his feet bring him to the library. He brings up his hand and starts biting on his nails. He has left this habit a long time ago but _oh God_ , he nearly killed someone and he is so so scared and he feels so bad. He stares at the books in front of him with glazed eyes.

He hurt Jihoon a lot of times.

But of course he realises this one was too far. He tells himself not to feel bad about it because last year, Jihoon has also pushed him off his own broomstick, so _why should he feel bad?_

He himself could also have been killed if it weren’t for his saviour, Bae Jinyoung.

He stops biting his nails when he hears Jinyoung and Guanlin calling for him.

He turns around, looking at them with a deadly glare.

Guanlin whimpers but Jinyoung is unaffected.

“Hyung, don’t you think this is going too far?” Guanlin mumbles.

They start bickering and Woojin is still defending himself. He doesn't want to apologize because he doesn't want to face Jihoon, not when he broke his arm and also lost to him. He does not want to admit defeat.

He really knows it is his fault but no no _no_ no he can’t do this.

“That’s because these past few days I’ve been really petty that we lost, okay. Slytherin lost to Gryffindor. I hate to have my butt beaten especially when it’s him.”

 _I mean,_ Woojin thinks to himself, _it’s not a whole lie._

Jinyoung and Guanlin exchange worried glances, and Woojin feels himself being punched again when the guilt flows into all of his body parts, his feet start to feel cold and he really wants to crawl into a hole and never come out when he hears Seongwoo talking with Jihoon.

He looks to see Jihoon with that pretty smile on his face that he always wears but never when with Woojin.

He's laughing when Seongwoo starts saying something loudly, and once again Woojin feels his heart cracking into pieces. He feels a hand on his shoulder but he doesn’t turn around to see whether it is Guanlin or Jinyoung.

He scrutinizes them, talking too animatedly in the library and Woojin feels the familiar kind of resentment whenever he does when he sees the bright side of Jihoon with other people.

Seongwoo walks away, and Jihoon locks his gaze on Woojin.

Woojin feels like a mouse caught in a mouse trap, and rapidly leaves the library.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(ba)**

 

“Holy shoot, the potion is finished?” Woojin says, eyes so huge as he scrambles over to the bottle Jinyoung is holding.

“We did it,” the younger states.

“Woah,” Guanlin says in awe, bending down to stare at the potion.

“I wanna try!” Woojin shouts, reaching out to grab the bottle in Jinyoung’s hand.

“No! Are you crazy?!” Jinyoung says, holding out the bottle further away from Woojin.

“What? Why?”

“You know there are lots of side effects, right?”

“But I can also survive, now _give_ me—!”

“Hyung! Are you serious?!” Guanlin exclaims, pushing Woojin off of Jinyoung.

“Yes,” Woojin says, voice firm.

“Why do you want it so desperately anyway?”

“I don’t know? To mess around?” He stares at them, eyes pleading. They do not move. “Guys, please. We worked so hard to make the potion perfect!” he whines.

“No,” both of them say in unison.

He eyes both of them, then sighs.

“Fine.”

That night, Woojin peeks from under his covers to watch Jinyoung putting the Polyjuice Potion in a box and puts it under his bed.

He makes sure to wake up early the next morning, quietly grabs the box and opens it. He grins when he sees the potion and rushes to the bathroom.

He drinks only a few sip and makes sure that there is still more than half of the potion left. He takes a deep breath and looks at his reflection in the mirror. He almost drops the potion in his hands when he starts transforming.

He grunts, feeling a burning sensation expand to all of his body parts. He watches as his nose slope changing, and his face decreasing in size, morphing from an oval to a rounder shape. Before his eyes, his lips change to a lighter shade and they get thinner.

“Oh.”

He stares back at his reflection.

He is Ong Seongwoo.

He is thankful that Seongwoo is only a few centimetres higher than him, so his robe still fits, and his shoes feel bigger than usual, and he almost laughs because are his feet bigger than Seongwoo?

He moves his fingers around his face, and tilts his head in different angles. _This is fun_. He feels so weird, but he's not Park Woojin. He's Ong Seongwoo and he wants to double over in laughter.

He pouts when his snaggletooth disappears and is replaced with another set of teeth. The door opens and he sees Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jungkook enter, and that is his cue to leave.

He stands outside of the washroom, and walks along the corridor, not knowing what to do now. He is sure going to get in trouble once his friends find out he transformed. He wants to eat, his stomach is grumbling, but he doesn't want to go in the Great Hall, knowing that Seongwoo is there and it will be suspicious if there are two Seongwoos.

He hears the door slam open behind him and he swishes around just in time to hear a shriek, and his eyes widen.

He knows what's happening in there, and he quickly rushes over to the entrance of the washroom, freezing when he sees Park Jihoon, hands covering his eyes and Woojin really holds himself back from cooing. He grabs the other’s wrist and automatically presses him into his chest.

 _Huh,_ he thinks. _This is weird_. Jihoon is shorter than usual, and the feeling of protecting this boy in his embrace washes over him like cold ice. His heart hammers loudly against his chest, not knowing what to do next, and he honestly doesn't want to let go, because this is nice.

He feels nice.

Jihoon is nice.

They listen to the couple bickering inside.

“Doesn’t deserve that view? Pft, yeah, watch in a few years as he does the same exact thing with Woojinie, and again—”

And that is Woojin’s (—Seongwoo’s?) cue to bring them to another place, and he swears internally to murder his Jungkook hyung later.

Woojin (—Seongwoo?) lets go of Jihoon, and it is only then Woojin notices his red and tired eyes, Woojin gulps — feeling his guts pinch into something he does not like.

“Oh, hyung!” Jihoon says, eyes lighting up and Woojin is confused for a few seconds.

_Why is he calling me hyung?_

_Oh_ God _, he never looks so happy to see me what did I do am I dreaming what is this—_

Right _. I’m Seongwoo._

He grins slowly at Jihoon, and pats himself at the back inwardly when Jihoon’s smile gets wider. He only watches as Jihoon rub his eyes, and starts saying something he doesn't really comprehend because Jihoon looks nice, and Woojin feels his breath hitching when Jihoon lets out a laugh. His mind is spinning and he likes seeing this side of Jihoon.

This is the first time Jihoon has acted like this when it comes to him, and his heart is doing the flips and flops and he likes this.

But when it hits him — the fact that Jihoon is only like this because he is Seongwoo — his smile fades.

Jihoon seems to think he got offended because of something he said, so his smile falters as well. Then he pushes his shoulder softly.

Woojin flinches.

“Ay, hyung, kidding! There’s nothing wrong with having no shame—”

He pushes Jihoon back impulsively because it is what he does a lot when he's Woojin, and Jihoon lets out a heart shattering yelp. Woojin grabs him before he falls down, and Woojin is whistling to himself internally because he has never done that.

Jihoon is looking at him weirdly, and Woojin’s mind is screaming “ _abort! abort!_ ”.

“Hyung.” He laughs nervously. “What prank is this? You’re scaring me.”

Woojin does not know what to say, so he just stares at Jihoon. He feels his fingers transforming back, and he thinks that the potion is wearing off.

So he runs to the washroom, leaving Jihoon without any explanation.

He's glad no one is there, and is very _very_ thankful that the couple from before has left, because once again he's groaning and then he's back as Park Woojin.

He makes sure to look if the hallway is clear then he immediately rushes to the Great Hall.

He lies to his friends that he did not use the potion, and gives it back to Jinyoung who just gives him the stink eye. He smiles sheepishly at Guanlin as well, who's telling him that he was worried because they couldn’t find Woojin after they woke up.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi)**

 

 _This is it,_ Woojin thinks. _This is my chance._

The teacher has finished announcing the pairs for the next project and Woojin wants to cry out loud because of course the universe hates him and he is paired with Park Jihoon.

Ever since that night, he is too scared to face Jihoon.

He really wants to keep the memory of the nice side of Jihoon, drilling his emotions and expressions into his mind, because he thinks he has a slight crush on the nice Jihoon, and he does not want to see the _Woojin-is-around_ side of Jihoon anymore, _no_ , not right now.

So when he finds out about this project, he's not sure what to do about it. He could confront to his teacher but they never listen, so he takes a deep breath and tells himself to just work hard on not bringing out the _Woojin-is-around_ side of Jihoon because his heart is aching for the other to get into his space as the _nice-as-heck_ Jihoon (now where did that come from?).

That all seems to fall from its place because when he slips into the seat across from Jihoon with the excuse of finishing this project quickly on the tip of his tongue, the _Woojin-is-around_ side of Jihoon is already there.

“Hey, wanna borrow my glasses to make sure you didn’t sit in front of the wrong person?”

Woojin stares at him, and for the umpteenth time he feels his stomach dropping. He really does not have a chance with Jihoon, _does he?_

He puts up his _Jihoon-is-around_ facade — rolling his eyes and groaning. “This is why we’ll never get along.”

He is too blinded by dejection to notice Jihoon’s reaction.

In the end he just tells Jihoon to get this project over with, wanting time to pass by quickly so he can leave and cry into his pillows in his bedroom.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi yi)**

 

Woojin doesn’t know what happened, but he remembers feeling bored so he drinks a few sips of the Polyjuice Potion. When the potion takes over, he feels like finding Jihoon as Seongwoo once again.

So when he spots Jihoon curled up and face hidden in the courtyard at night, he’s blank.

He taps Jihoon’s shoulder.

“J-Jihoon?” he says, and almost screams because he used his actual voice and if Jihoon finds out that he’s not Seongwoo he’s going to end himself right here and right now.

He hears Jihoon humming in reply.

Then he panics, _What do I do?_ He doesn’t want to just leave Jihoon because he feels like he’s stuck and he can’t just use his normal voice or Jihoon is going to be suspicious and Woojin's going to have to explain everything but he doesn’t feel like doing so right now, so he just thinks about speaking in a deep voice.

“Sorry about that, my voice sounds weird at night,” he replies. Woojin inwardly feels relieved because Jihoon looks up.

But _woah._

Woojin feels his heart twisting and his stomach being punched because Jihoon… is _crying_?

Then he starts choking and Woojin stops breathing and he starts freaking out because _oh God what do I do to someone who’s choking to death?!_

He rubs the other’s back, and Jihoon apologizes for acting this way but Woojin doesn’t really understand so he just stares at Jihoon and takes in the sight of his wet and flushed cheeks.

Jihoon looks uncomfortable and that’s when Woojin snaps out of his daze and speaks in a high-pitched tone.

“It’s okay!” he squeaks out. Woojin is sobbing in the inside because this is so embarrassing and weird but then again, Seongwoo is weird so Jihoon might fall for this.

Jihoon laughs.

He’s laughing and Woojin thinks the sound is so foreign but it’s nice.

His laugh is nice.

Jihoon is nice.

“I’m not even gonna ask why you sound like that,” Jihoon says, but he doesn’t really hear it because he’s staring at Jihoon again.

His eyes finally light up and they look better than a few minutes before and Woojin thinks his eyes are sparkling and it’s pretty.

Very pretty.

He starts speaking again, and making up a lame excuse as to why he’s speaking in a weird tone. Jihoon seems unconvinced but then he believes Woojin because Seongwoo is strange and Woojin is acting strange.

Woojin feels like it's his cue to leave when Jihoon asks him what he’s doing out here, because suddenly he starts remembering about his friends and he can already hear Guanlin crying, so he helps Jihoon up, gives him a smile, and runs.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi er)**

 

Woojin makes his way towards the list, feeling a smile tugging on his lips when he sees the excellent mark he and both Jihoon got. He moves backwards to let the others see their own marks.

He's not sure why he isn't leaving the classroom yet, but he's there with his arm crossed as he watches Jihoon going over the list. He drops his arms to his sides when Jihoon grins, feeling a foreign kind of warmth blooming in his chest, but he totally does _not_ expect Jihoon to turn his head and land his eyes on him.

Woojin is still standing there when Jihoon wraps his arms around him.

“We did it, Woojinie!”

Woojin chokes on his own saliva, because Jihoon is hugging him, in front of others who are watching the scene unfold like some kind of cheesy drama because their eyes are wide and then they are cooing and Woojin is so _so_ so nervous and he does not know what to do.

_Should I hug back?_

But the eyes on them are making him hard to move, and Jihoon calling him _Woojinie_ is making his head spin and his body system has stopped functioning because _Woojinie Woojinie Woojinie Woojinie_.

Then he realises it's too late to hug back because Jihoon pulls away, and he looks like he’s just witnessed a murder and Woojin, being the dumbbutt he is, pushes Jihoon away and leaves the classroom.

“You won’t believe what happened,” he tells his friends after classes.

“Enlighten us,” Jinyoung says, putting his head on Daehwi’s shoulder who's sitting next to him. They're in the Great Hall. It's still early for dinner so the place is almost empty except for a few students and Woojin’s group of friends.

“Jihoon hugged me.”

“Good one.” Guanlin chortles.

“I’m serious!”

“Woah there loverboy, how did that happen?” Hyeongseop teases.

“Loverboy?” He arches a brow at Hyeongseop, then shakes his head. “We got a perfect score for our project, and I think he got excited and hugged me,” he tries to say nonchalantly, but his friends start hollering when they observe his red ears.

“He’s not telling us something,” Daehwi speaks up this time. “There’s something else, right?”

Woojin grumbles, putting his arms on the table and hiding his face. “He called me Woojinie,” he says, voice muffled.

“What?” Jinyoung says.

Hyeongseop cracks into a laughter. “Jihoon called him Woojinie.”

Jihoon doesn’t know it, but Woojin does have weaknesses, and one of them is Park Jihoon himself.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi san)**

 

Woojin is humming to himself, walking towards the courtyard when he sees Jihoon sitting under the tree next to Seongwoo. He swiftly escapes out of the place, and stays in the corridor, watching as the two interact, and again Woojin feels that weird feeling in his stomach when he sees the other side of Jihoon.

Then he starts panicking. Memories of the time when he first used the Polyjuice Potion flash back into his mind, gushing like a flow of water and then he's drowning so he stops watching them.

_Did Jihoon ask Seongwoo about it?_

_What if they find out?_

Woojin would be in trouble. He would bring his friends into trouble as well because they made a potion without the permission of their teachers, and they probably have broken like _fifty_ school rules.

He is snapped out of his thoughts when he sees Jihoon appearing, and the other seems to be deep in thought with the way there is a pout playing on his lips, and Woojin steps in front of him.

Jihoon looks up, and Woojin is definitely awestruck — Jihoon up close when he's watching from his own pair of eyes is very _very_ nice.

Jihoon is nice.

“H-Hey Woojin.”

Woojin’s insides twirl, and the other half is whining because where did the _Woojinie_ go.

“J-Jihoon.”

Jihoon starts apologizing for his behaviour earlier today, and Woojin stops himself from saying “What’re you apologizing for? The hug was nice. I’m sorry for not hugging you back. I’ll make it up to you now? Let’s hug” and says “It’s fine” instead.

His inner mind starts teasing at him because _oh God_ he is never one who likes hugs, and then he is back to thinking the day when he was Ong Seongwoo and the way Jihoon—

“Woojin? Are you okay?”

Woojin panics, “ _abort! abort!_ ” in his head.

Before Jihoon lands his hand on Woojin, he runs away.

 _Shoot me_ , Woojin thinks.

For once, when Jihoon pushes his _Woojin-is-around_ side away, Woojin is the one who puts his _Jihoon-is-around_ side back up.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi si)**

 

He slept too early last night, because he really didn't want to show his flushing self to his friends so he avoided talking to them and went under the covers instantly.

He didn't say anything the next morning when they had breakfast and they understood, not prodding at him for questions.

In classes he couldn’t really concentrate. He regrets a lot of things. He really should have told Jihoon his actual feelings last night. Jihoon looked really soft and nice like always but it was his first time in forever he looked like that in front of Woojin and Woojin should feel honoured and flattered but he knows he is an idiot and he wants to make it up.

After his classes he decides to look for his friends. Knowing Jinyoung, he would be with Daehwi right now and he does not want to be third-wheeling at the moment. Hyeongseop would be really helpful but then again he also has a boyfriend to accompany and the other close friend he has is Guanlin who is lonely and single just like Woojin.

He groans, thinking that Guanlin's probably unhelpful because he's so naive and young but he sighs, telling himself that he will feel better if he just tell Guanlin everything — no need for any advice.

_Well._

He finally spots Guanlin, along with another company.

Park Jihoon is clinging to Lai Guanlin.

Now, it has never been a matter for him that Jihoon somehow happens to be friends with his friends. But he feels left out, knowing that Jinyoung and Guanlin used to be by his side when he attacked Jihoon, and now they are so comfortable with him and Woojin, is jealous.

_Jealous?_

 Jealous of the fact that his friends are gonna leave him for his one and only rival? Jealous of the fact that they can befriend Jihoon but he seems to be the only one Jihoon doesn’t like?

He is jealous, _yes_ , but of what?

He looks dumb standing there, staring at the duo with his eyebrows furrowed. He is not sure why he's suddenly so indignant, because he has seen his friends hanging out with Jihoon.

Is it because of the fact that it just hit him that Jihoon really _really_ doesn’t like him? Jihoon never seems to talk to Woojin without both of them insulting each other.

He doesn’t know, but he knows he's fuming, and he watches as Guanlin push Jihoon away and _there it is_ , the heart wrenching sound of Jihoon yelping. Woojin wants to tell Guanlin to help him up, Woojin wants to move forward and help him up, but Woojin only looks at him, and the obstinate side of him — the petty side of him, doesn’t want to do so as he calls Guanlin’s name, and both of them leave Jihoon.

They do not talk until they reach their dormitory, Woojin shutting the door behind him as Guanlin gulps, facing around to look at Woojin.

“I’m sorry, hyung.”

Woojin sighs, pulling Guanlin into a hug.

“What’re you sorry for?”

Guanlin pulls away, eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

“I thought you’re angry? Because I was with your number one enemy?”

 _Oh poor naive Guanlin_ , he thinks.

Woojin shakes his head, and sighs again.

“Why would I be mad? You can be friends with whoever you want to be.”

“Hyung, I’m not dumb, you seemed really mad.”

The older frowns. “I don’t know.”

“You were jealous.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Maybe," the elder concedes.

“I’m sorry, I will not let Jihoon come close to me ever again.”

Woojin gives him a weird look. “I’m not that possessive.”

Guanlin smirks, and Woojin almost falls on his butt. “Are you saying you own Jihoon?”

“What even?” Woojin splutters.

“Hyung, it’s been years. I’m tired.” He walks over to his own bed, and plopping down on it. “When will you admit your undying love for Jihoon?”

_Oh dear, where did the naive Guanlin go?_

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi wu)**

 

The next time Woojin finds Jihoon, it’s Jihoon who wants to run away this time.

That’s when Woojin knows he has messed up real bad.

Jihoon has been approaching him and Woojin is always running away, but now the tables have turned and Woojin is the repugnant one.

“I gotta go. Bye Jinyoungie,” Jihoon says, clearly wanting to escape because of Woojin’s presence.

Jinyoung looks confused, and Woojin looks dreadful.

They watch as Jihoon leave the place.

Jinyoung then gives him the stink eye again — the one where Woojin would get so offended and call him a brat.

“Go after him.”

“No, brat.”

“ _Go_! Thank me later.”

Woojin makes sure to let out a grumble before he is running out of the library, head turning left and right in search of a certain black-haired boy.

 _There you are,_ he thinks, grabbing ahold of Jihoon’s wrist.

He is about to smile, tell Jihoon hi or something because the fist where he holds his heart is slowly unclenching, ready for it to be given to the other, but Jihoon seems to be feeling otherwise. The distasteful look is back on his face and Woojin starts scolding himself that he is the one who made the _Woojin-is-around_ side of Jihoon come back from the dead.

“Woojin, _stop_.”

His voice sounds so so broken and Woojin is so _so_ determined to fix this.

“Jihoon—”

Jihoon tries to get out from his grasp again, and Woojin reaches out for him again.

He is not letting Jihoon go this time, not when he's finally resolute.

“I don’t want to deal with this right now.”

_There it is._

His fist is unclenched. His heart is out in the open, but one look at the glistening tears on Jihoon’s cheeks, his heart slips, and Woojin is quick to grab it and clench his fist once again.

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

_I’m sorry for treating you like trash. You’re not trash. You never were._

But his heart is already tucked back into his pocket — located inside of his tight fist.

“I’m sorry that you can’t be friends with my friends.”

_Really? That’s what you can come up with?_

Jihoon’s face is suddenly void of emotion and Woojin ignores the pain in his chest when Jihoon’s reply comes out as bitter.

“God, me too, honestly.”

He tries again.

“Look. I’m sorry you can’t be friends with my friends, I’m sorry it’s because we hate each other–“ He pauses.

_Do I?_

“–I’m sorry we can’t get along because we can’t stand each other.”

Woojin thinks he’s imagining the hurt look on Jihoon’s face, because these are facts and Woojin only states facts, _right_?

“I hate you because you make me feel, things,” he starts.

_Fear._

“No one makes me angry like you do. Your personality, your being, your whole existence, truthfully. There are so many things why I hate about you. You seem like you talk to everyone and have lots of friends but when we quarrel you’re mostly on your own and you look like a loner it’s so vexing, honestly. I’d like to go on but I really don’t wanna see you cry anymore.”

Woojin hates the thought of being the reason why Jihoon cries. He hates himself for it. He hates how easily he makes Jihoon cries. The damage is done. He makes Jihoon cry, Jihoon hates him, so Woojin is... _cancelled_? Woojin is _over_?

_Yeah. Keep on hurting him._

“You’re a crybaby it’s annoying I hate it, so _stop_ crying! I also hate when you wear that Gryffindor robe and look so small even when you’re almost the same height as me but obviously I’m taller and those round glasses; I hate how you look really soft and adorable when you scrunch up your nose wearing those round glasses and the look on your face when you score a really good– _wait_.”

Woojin only states facts.

 _Are_ those _facts?_

Now Jihoon is gonna dislike him even more – _disgusted_ even. Who the heck makes their crush hates them and insult them and make their life miserable and confess that they find their enemy really cute?

Park Woojin, _of course_.

Right.

Run away.

_Again._

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**(shi liu)**

 

“Congrats! You just admitted that you find him attractive! Next step is to freaking open up more and tell Jihoon that all this time you’re a moron who thinks that he’ll make himself feel better if he makes sure to make the guy he likes feel gloomy!” The sarcasm in his voice is too much Woojin grimaces.

“You’re not making me feel better.”

“Jinyoung, you’re too harsh on him,” Hyeongseop says.

“This is why you’re my favourite,” Woojin says, voice muffled under his covers.

“Why is Hyeongseop here anyway? He’s a _Hufflepuff_ ,” Jinyoung says.

“And you're all Slytherins,” Hyeongseop deadpans.

“These are true statements,” Guanlin pipes in, nodding.

“I let him in. Jealous?” Woojin bites out even though his face is covered.

“Yes, I envy your fearlessness. I don’t want Daehwi to get in trouble if I bring him here so I never do,” he responds sarcastically.

_Fearlessness?_

Woojin snorts.

He is very fearless, _sure_.

Then he throws his covers away, sitting up as an idea clicks in his mind.

“Jinyoung.”

“Yes, master?”

Woojin ignores the nickname. “Where’s the Polyjuice Potion?”

"Wha—"

Hyeongseop gasps. “Polyjuice Potion?”

“Keep it down, Seop hyung! And Woojin, you just revealed a secret, thank you!” Jinyoung hisses sarcastically, rolling his eyes and Woojin glares at him because he dropped the ‘hyung’.

“You guys made Polyjuice Potion?” Hyeongseop whispers furiously, eyes widening and jaw dropping. “That’s like, the _most_ complicated potion to make! Did you guys even brew it correctly? It’s dangerous if you made a mistake.”

“Yes, it’s correct. It worked,” Woojin affirms.

Jinyoung’s head turned so fast he swears he hears a crack. “You tried it?! You _betrayer_!”

“ _Hyung_! I’m angry now as well,” Guanlin cries out.

Woojin, once again, ignores them. “I need answers from Jihoon.”

“And we need an apology— _hey_! What are you doing!” Jinyoung protests, and Woojin is too occupied to be surprised at how Jinyoung is making so many expressions at once.

He grins when he goes under Jinyoung’s bed, spotting the familiar box. He quickly takes out the potion, and stands up.

“Woojin hyung, give me that before I tackle you,” Jinyoung warns in a low tone.

“I’m fearless, remember?” Woojin says, cackling when he zooms to the door and quickly casts a spell to lock the door behind him, muffling his best friends’ screams.

He sprints to the washroom and drinks the potion, finishing all of its content and puts his hands on the sink after letting go of the bottle, the item shattering into pieces as it reaches the ground.

He watches the familiar wax of bubbles appear on his skin, and he makes sure this is his last time he's Ong Seongwoo when he rushes out in search of a raven-haired boy.

When he does find the boy, he makes sure to clear his throat and says in the highest pitch he can reach. “Park Jihoon!” he squeals, and coughing afterwards when it hurts his throat.

That catches Jihoon’s attention, turning his head to see him (Seongwoo) approaching.

_There it is._

_Woojin-is-not-around_ side of Jihoon out in the open, arm up in the air to wave at Seongwoo (Woojin) and motions for him to come over. He pats on the space next to him and Woojin (Seongwoo) happily obeys.

“What’s up, hyung?” Jihoon asks, looking at Seongwoo (Woojin).

Woojin is surprised. This is the first time he notices Jihoon trying to hide his bad mood with a happier tone.

Most of the time it happens when they're arguing, and Jihoon would hide his despondent mood by using a more annoying, more teasing, cheekier tone, and Woojin would be too irritated to think about it.

But now this time they are not arguing, and Woojin isn't ridiculed but he's curious.

 _How do I make this smooth and cool?_   Woojin screams in his mind.

“Uh,” Woojin (Seongwoo) starts, clearing his throat when he realises he's using his own voice. “I’m not feeling good, so,” he lies.

Jihoon’s bright facade then falls, a sad smile playing on his face instead.

“Me neither.”

Then they fall into a long silence, Jihoon staring at his hands and Seongwoo (Woojin) sneakily stares at the same thing.

Woojin decides to ask Jihoon to talk about it, and so the other does.

Woojin finds out about Jihoon’s grandmother, and finally understands as to why the other had been looking so downhearted. He starts thinking about the possibilities if he didn't pause their arguments that one time after the first time he (as Seongwoo) was captivated by Jihoon.

He wonders if he didn't even try to drink that potion.

If Woojin didn’t become Seongwoo, he wouldn’t have seen Jihoon’s _Woojin-is-not-around_ side directly in front of him, he wouldn’t have been bewitched and start pining for him, he wouldn’t have known the feeling of being smitten, and he would continue picking on Jihoon, continue when Jihoon was at his lowest and worst and trigger him and Woojin doesn’t want to imagine what would’ve happened.

Suddenly, he feels confident that he deserves a second chance.

Even more when Jihoon mentions his name.

“Woojin,” he says, startling Woojin because _oh God did he find out that I’m not Seongwoo?_

“Huh?”

_Jihoon._

Jihoon is really full of surprises.

He starts talking about Woojin, and Woojin thinks that he is about to tell Seongwoo (Woojin) about how bad of a person he is.

And he does.

But Jihoon, he phrases his words differently.

Woojin then finds out that he isn’t the only one who states facts.

Woojin finds himself falling.

Falling deeper because everything Jihoon is telling him are facts and he never thought that anyone would actually point them out. He silently agrees, listening intently to the words coming from Jihoon.

His fist.

His fist where it holds his heart.

It is unclenching for the second time, and this time his heart is beating so fast along with the blissful feeling of determination — eager to give it to the boy beside him.

“There are times when I found Woojin at his weakest, eyes actually filled with pity after he broke my arm, the way he stared at me with guilt when we did the cleaning together after we got in trouble, the regretful look he always had on his face for a millisecond after I land on my butt. I hated how I was able to catch his soft gaze looking at me when we did the project, but it was gone to a blank expression so fast that I thought I was imagining it.”

Seongwoo's (Woojin's) heart is beating _too_ loudly in his chest, and his mind is spinning and it's hard for him to focus right now because he is so elated and puzzled at the same time. He didn’t think anyone would notice. He thought he was good at masking his expressions, and Woojin honestly didn’t even notice it himself, but _of course_.

He laughs inwardly.

Of course it had to be _Park Jihoon_.

“I don’t think it was an imagination.”

“How would you know that?” Jihoon says, letting out a bitter laugh and Woojin’s heart quivers. “He’s so confusing that I don’t know whether I like him or hate him.”

“Like him?”

He is confused, _okay_ , he has never been in love. The only person he has ever been attracted to is Jihoon, and probably Hyeongseop like a few years ago but that is all in the past, and now his love for Hyeongseop is purely platonic _thank you very much_.

“At one point, I think I fancied him.”

Crack.

“He’s intriguing. There are things about him that I want to know about him, what to understand, and I want him to let me know.”

He hears the second crack.

“I hate that he feels the need to put a barrier to defend himself! I want to show him that I’m here for him and he can break down whenever. He does not have to continue being the stony, cold-hearted and reserved Park Woojin.”

More cracking.

Jihoon sniffles, Woojin looks up to see him crying.

The walls he has never really planned to bring down are now cracking, smashed, broken down and he’s shedding tears for the first time since he came to Hogwarts.

“Hyung?”

He slips his heart into Jihoon’s grip – the other staring at it with wide eyes filled with so much qualms.

"I like you.”

 _I did it,_ mom. _I did it I did it I did but do I mean it oh God._

His heart is shattered into pieces when Jihoon stands up.

_No._

He can’t let Jihoon steal it without saying anything.

“Wait, Jihoon.”

 _Please don’t mess this up_ , he thinks to himself.

“I’m insane. I’m going insane. First you tell me about your feelings for me and the next you sound so _so_ much like Woojin I am losing my mind—“

“Jihoon.”

He thinks the pieces of his beating heart are joining back together when the thought of Jihoon recognizing his voice seeps through his mind.

 _Well, it’s probably because you always use your voice to bring him down,_ stupid _._

“W-What?”

He's about to speak up, but he feels his feet fitting his shoes once again, and he looks at his hands to see his fingers transforming back to his original size. He trails his tongue over his teeth to find a certain snaggletooth and when he snaps his gaze up at Jihoon he feels his heart stopping.

Jihoon looks so so _so_ so petrified and deceived and Woojin regrets everything.

“Oh,” Jihoon mutters.

And he wraps his fingers around Woojin’s heart in his hold and clenches his fist tightly, and Woojin can only imagine his blood along with the disintegrated pieces.

This time, Woojin is stuck and Jihoon is gone.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**( start)**

 

“I’m really, _really_ going nuts,” Jihoon mutters to himself, his covers wrapped around his body as he shifts left to right to left to right on his bed.

_Okay, so what is the truth?_

At first he thought that he was going real insane, that he saw Woojin instead of Seongwoo – the person he was supposed to be with.

Then he thought that maybe Seongwoo did a spell which made him hallucinate – create an illusion for Jihoon to feel like he is with Woojin instead of Seongwoo, but Jihoon is too bewildered right now to think whether this spell exists or not.

Eventually he brings up the Polyjuice Potion, but that seems unrealistic in so many ways.

How did Woojin even have the Polyjuice Potion? And used it more than one time in just a short span of time? That potion takes a very long time to brew!

Even if Woojin really did use the Polyjuice Potion and pretended to be Seongwoo, _why_?

_What was the reason?_

Obviously Woojin likes to mess around, and maybe he thinks Seongwoo is probably the Slytherin Jihoon is the closest to, and wanted to mess with Jihoon and blackmail him with the information he has when they're quarreling? That _is_ possible, maybe the _most_ realistic and logical reason.

Jihoon starts to regret everything, and he really wants to scream at everyone and everything because for _once_ he opened up, it had to fall into the wrong hands.

He is really devastated and pissed off.

Woojin really went that low just to take on Jihoon? _Seriously_?

Who is he kidding, thinking that someone from Slytherin actually cared about him, actually wanted to make him feel better and help him sort out his problems but turns out he was never that deep in the friendship zone with Seongwoo, and actually broke down and swallowed his pride in front of his biggest nemesis?

How ironic that he thought Woojin was different, and the fact that he spilled out those thoughts to Woojin himself.

Woojin is _horrible_.

A horrible person, and a good actor.

Jihoon has lost.

He's defeated, and he doesn’t care anymore – as long as Woojin stops bothering him, stop prying, stop trying, stop doing everything that involves Jihoon.

_You win, Woojin._

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

He has a free day.

One whole day where he can sort out his own thoughts, and think about how he can face Woojin the next day because there is no way he will not bump into him, not when they share all classes together.

He has already formed a plan when he went to bed last night.

He can go to class the exact time class starts, _yes_ , so Woojin will not be able to approach him in the middle of a lesson, then he can dash out of class quickly before Woojin can go to him, and the break in between his classes, he can just hide somewhere – a bathroom stall maybe – to avoid Woojin, and he is fine with skipping meals, but his friends aren’t so they want him to join them in the Great Hall and they can protect him from Woojin.

Jihoon trusts them.

He rounds a corner, checking the time and smiles when he steps into the class along with the teacher.

 _Nice timing,_ he thinks.

Well.

He couldn’t concentrate during the whole lesson, with him distracted by the feeling of Woojin’s gaze burning on him and he's truly frightened that Woojin is going to catch him before he's able to run.

 _Why_ is it every time they play cat and mouse, Jihoon seems to be the mouse who loses?

“Jihoon,” Woojin calls out, finally being able to catch the other after their last class.

“Woojin,” he says blankly, stopping in his steps because he's weak and he's tired to run, so he just stares at his feet with Woojin standing before him.

“C-Can we talk?” Woojin ventures.

Jihoon draws in a shaky breath then lifts his head up. Woojin's looking at him and he looks more agitated than Jihoon is.

“Are you gonna do the talking? Or am I gonna tell you some more stuff if the other night wasn’t enough?” he tries to snap, but his tone comes out the opposite.

Woojin grimaces at that, an expression he seems to be always making these days.

Jihoon raises a brow.

“L-Let’s go somewhere.”

“Why? I’m perfectly fine here,” Jihoon says stubbornly, straightening his posture.

Woojin just stares at him before he sighs and grabs Jihoon’s wrist like he always does. Jihoon scoffs weakly, too exhausted to fight back.

He follows Woojin quietly, now curious as to where the Slytherin is bringing him. They’re getting further away from the others, entering more secluded areas.

“Are you trying to murder me in secret?” Jihoon speaks up, voice clearly indicating how intimidated he is.

Woojin looks amused, but he shakes his head. “Just follow me,” he says.

Jihoon, with how nervous he is, follows every movement Woojin does.

They are on the seventh floor of Hogwarts.

_Why are they on the seventh floor of Hogwarts?_

“Why are we here?”

“I’m about to kill you slowly and painfully here, and I need this place to hide your body,” Woojin says without turning around, still holding Jihoon’s wrist as he brings them to a huge door.

“How romantic.”

Woojin flushes. “Um, do you wanna go in?”

“You’re the one who brought me here so it’s up to you.”

Woojin finally looks at him. “It’s the Room of Requirement.”

“I can see that.”

He shifts his gaze away nervously. “I’m entering if you’re entering.”

“Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”

Woojin keeps on staring, and Jihoon is too bold to look away, but his insides are squirming because this is the look that would only appear before Jihoon can blink, the look that Woojin is able to hide so well, the look where it shows how vulnerable he actually is, the look where Jihoon always tries to spot because it's so hard to catch but this time it is out in the open and Jihoon is fazed, he doesn’t know what to do.

Then he laughs, and it’s the first genuine laugh Jihoon has heard from him.

Jihoon blinks a few times before Woojin pulls him into the room and he finally registers their surroundings.

He holds back a laugh as he puts on a straight face and looks at Woojin.

“Seriously?”

Woojin grimaces. “Sorry, I couldn’t think properly other than I needed a room.”

Jihoon shakes his head, eyes wandering over the small place, small enough that only the both of them can fit together inside. There are only wooden shelves around them, behind Woojin and behind him, with different kinds of flowers Jihoon doesn’t really know of, filling the empty spaces and decorating the dull tiny room as they give a colourful and vibrant feeling.

“Didn’t know you were an anthophile.”

“Well, I didn’t really know much about flowers until yesterday.”

Jihoon smiles comically at this. “What’s the occasion?”

Woojin presses his lips into a thin line, then speaks up. “Well, Hyeongseop knew I was really bad at expressing my feelings, so he gave me an idea to speak to you through flowers.”

At this, Jihoon laughs, the back of his hand covering his mouth, then he adjusts his falling glasses.

“Good idea.” Then his smile falls, tongue darting out to wipe his lips nervously. “But I wouldn't know the meaning of them.”

“Yeah, okay, _wow_ , something that you don’t know but I know, that’s,” he exhales, “Wow.”

Jihoon pouts at this. “What's that supposed to make me feel?”

“Nothing,” Woojin says quickly. “But I feel, _nice_.”

He rolls his eyes. “You gonna boast like you always do or?”

“Kidding! Okay, I’m kidding! Okay, _so_ , uh.” He turns around, eyes searching for a flower to pick out.

Jihoon watches him as he hands him a yellow flower which Jihoon thinks he recognizes.

Woojin just looks at him, and Jihoon waits for him to look for another flower, but he doesn’t.

“Daffodil?”

Woojin puts on a shy smile, and nods.

“When I was looking for flowers that represent us, this one caught my attention.”

He peeks up at Jihoon, before looking back at the flowers in Jihoon’s hands.

“It represents rebirth and new beginnings,” he says in a voice so small that Jihoon almost doesn’t hear it in this noiseless room.

Jihoon doesn’t speak, still staring at the flowers, fingers holding the petals and twirling them around.

“After five years, I finally want to apologize,” he continues, voice now louder.

At this, Jihoon stops moving.

“I’ve always wanted to do this, you know, for a long time.”

“Why didn’t you?” Jihoon whispers.

“I was a coward,” Woojin replies.

“You’re still one," Jihoon says bluntly.

“I’m still one, but I’m trying not to be.” He takes a deep breath, eyes moving from the daffodils to Jihoon, who’s not looking at him. “I was scared, I think I told myself this at one point, that I didn’t want to lose. Even my parents thought that I’d do good in Hogwarts, and I didn’t doubt myself, until, of course, I met you.”

Jihoon finally looks at him.

“You’re good.”

An unattractive snort comes out from Jihoon. “I’m _good_?”

“Shut up, I’m trying to form the words.”

Jihoon giggles at this, and Woojin suddenly forgets the words he’s going to say, mind muddled and warmth flooding his insides.

Then he snaps out of it.

“Uh.”

“Hm?” Jihoon’s voice is teasing, and it isn’t really helping Wooijn at this point.

“Okay, so, the thing is, you’re perfect. You’re really smart, and really hard to beat, so I didn’t like that. I grew up as a spoiled brat, but the thing is, I was a brat who listened to my parents and I was also born smart so it was fine.”

Jihoon can’t help the smile on his face.

“You? You’re smarter, and I never liked being overwhelmed, you know? I like being the first, but with you there it seemed impossible, so I didn’t like you for that. But honestly, I never wanted to make you feel like trash — I never saw you as something indifferent, or inferior? Maybe I did, but it wasn’t that big of a thought so it never clicked to me? _God_ , I’m bad at this.

“Anyways, so, you’re perfect, right? _Right_. Yeah, you’re smart, you’re also good-looking — I’m pretty sure everyone knows that — and you’re actually nice as well, that’s a whole package. You’re a whole package. Oh, yeah, about the nice thing, you were never nice to me.”

“Hypocrite.”

“Stop, I only think about myself and you know that.”

Jihoon shrugs.

“Yeah, so okay, I always thought, _God_ , this is so immature, I should apologize to him, but you always seemed like you wanted to fight, and that you fully truly wholly hated me already, so it’d be embarrassing for me to admit defeat.”

He spaces out at this, the word _defeat_ in his mind in bold letters and glow shadow.

“So I never did, and continued on the stupid rivalry,” he groans.

“Let me get this straight.”

“Is anything straight at this point?” Woojin mutters.

Jihoon stifles a laugh. “You never really hated me, I mean, you did, you hated me just because I was better than you,” a nod from Woojin, “You never wanted to fight and you always wanted to apologize,” another nod, “But you never did because you were scared that I hated you and scared of me not forgiving?” A nod.

He frowns.

“Seriously? Just because I was better than _you_? Woojin, I spent years trying to figure out why you hated me, I thought that my family did something to your family or some kind of problem in dramas where they just disliked the other and treated them improperly but never told the reason why because they were secretly avenging the other or something.”

Woojin grins sheepishly.

Jihoon’s gaze flickers from his eyes to his snaggletooth then back to his eyes discreetly.

He sighs. “Well, then that’s that. Can’t erase the fact you made my life miserable, can’t it?”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

“Say it again.”

Woojin looks offended as he looks into Jihoon’s wide doe eyes. “What?”

“Say it again.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No, I want to hear it again.”

“Why?”

“To make sure you’re sincere.” Jihoon grins wickedly.

Woojin looks incredulous. “You’re insane. This is why I never apologized in the first place.”

Jihoon pouts, holding up the daffodils, then tilts his head.

“You should be glad I’m weak for you,” Woojin grumbles.

Jihoon looks genuinely confused. “Now what do you mean this time?”

“Nothing.”

He looks away from Jihoon, not wanting to give in, but even with the other’s presence he feels himself being defeated once again.

“Y-You’re—” He sighs exasperatedly. “I hate this. I’m sorry,” he mumbles.

“Can’t hear you?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hmm?”

“Park Jihoon, I, Park Woojin, am sorry for everything. Okay? Happy? _Okay,_ let’s get out.”

Jihoon beams happily, and nods at Woojin.

“Apology accepted.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Now what have you gotten over there?” Mark asks as he stops talking to Hyeop to look at Jihoon who’s entering the common room with flushed cheeks, pink ears and—

“Are those daffodils?” Minhyun says.

Jihoon nods, sitting down next to Minhyun on one of the sofas, across from his two other friends.

Minhyun wraps his arms around Jihoon’s shoulders.

“Are you planning to give this to someone?”

The younger shakes his head. “No, someone gave this to me.”

Minhyun whistles. “Now, whose love aren’t you returning?”

Jihoon looks up from the flowers to Minhyun beside him. “Love?”

“Yeah? I mean, I don’t know much about floriography, but back then I got these from Seongwoo, like, years ago, _dark days_ , before he got together with Daniel, and me, before Jonghyun— _anyways_ , Seongwoo gave them to me, and confessed to me that the flowers represent unrequited love.”

Jihoon chokes on air, coughing repeatedly and Minhyun rubs his back soothingly.

“You okay?”

He glances at Mark and Hyeop who are sharing the same worried expressions.

Jihoon nods. “Yeah.” He clears his throat. “But flowers can have a lot of meanings, right?”

“Of course,” Minhyun responds.

“Yeah, so, he gave these to me, saying they represent new beginnings.”

“He,” Hyeop says.

“New beginnings,” Mark repeats.

Both of them share a look, before looking at Jihoon.

“Woojin from Slytherin,” they say in unison.

Jihoon is disturbed.

Minhyun looks at him with a proud smile. “Woojin finally apologized? Aw, you’re all growing up. It feels like yesterday both of you had that spell duel in the school corridors.”

Jihoon cringes at the thought. “Don’t remind me.”

“Well, so he means new beginnings; I guess that’s the other meaning.”

“Of course it’s the other meaning. Why would he lie to me?”

“He’s pretty good at lying, don’t you think so?” Mark says.

Hyeop nods, but then shakes his head. “Yeah, _so_ , new beginnings, you’re all good now?”

Jihoon sighs, thinking about Woojin's sincere words. “I hope so.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 Jihoon startles when someone slides into the seat beside him noisily, and there’s a voice screaming from behind them.

“Woojin, that’s _my_ seat!” It’s Yoojung.

“No, it’s mine now,” Woojin turns to look at her. “Don’t you think should be thankful that you can now sit next to your girlfriend?”

At this, Yoojung blinks, then lands his gaze on Doyeon — Woojin’s _ex_ seatmate? — who’s waving at her. She gives her a smile, then a glare at Woojin. She huffs a breath before stomping over to the other side of the room.

Jihoon’s staring at him with wide eyes. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Woojin grins at him. “I want to sit next to you.”

“Did you even think of me?”

His grin is now a frown. “What? You don’t wanna sit next to me?”

“No, give me Yoojung back.”

Woojin looks so offended, and the familiar side of him is back.

“You’re such a prick, Park.”

Jihoon grins this time. “Now that’s the Woojin I know.”

“Shut up.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Jihoon is seventeen and it’s Valentine’s Day. He isn’t surprised when he comes in for breakfast and sees lots of chocolates and letters being dropped in front of him by the owls.

As usual, the other Gryffindors in the long table whistle and hoot at him, and he flushes bashfully. He’s fully aware that he gets the most on Valentine’s Day in the Gryffindor house, but he doesn’t really think about it much and has never really considered or thought about being in a relationship, so typically — like every other year — he goes over the letters, smiles, puts them in his bag, and eats the chocolates.

“Chocolate Frogs again?” Hyeop asks, peeking at the items Jihoon has received.

Jihoon nods, munching happily.

“That’s the only consistent gift you get every Valentine’s,” his friend remarks, shaking his head and laughs. “It’s still from the same person?”

Jihoon nods again, transferring the small piece of paper which was glued to the pack of chocolates. Hyeop takes it from his hands, looking at the familiar ‘참새’ written on the paper, and it’s like that every year: no message or anything, just a word saying ‘ _sparrow_ ’.

“You still have no idea who’s it from?”

“Nah.” Jihoon swallows, and sighs. “It’s sweet though, but I’m not sure if I know them or if they like me? It’s weird — the same type of chocolate and the same note for almost five years,” he stops to laugh, “I don’t get why it’s sparrow though.”

Hyeop laughs along with him. “Five years, _wow_. This person is a coward,” Jihoon nods, agreeing, “And also very whipped. How did they know it’s your favourite?”

Jihoon pouts this time. “No idea, I’ve never really told anyone. Are you sure it’s not from you?”

“You wish, Jihoon. You would know it’s my handwriting, wouldn’t you?”

The other hums in agreement. “I guess you’re right.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

That night, Jihoon is in the middle of a conversation with Hyeop when he hears a voice interrupting.

“Hey there, mind if I sit here?”

Woojin stares at the both of them who aren’t replying.

“Of _course_ not, I’ll sit then.” One hand is holding his tray of food and the other is grabbing an annoyed Jinyoung.

“You should’ve told me to bring my food before dragging me over here, you idiot,” Jinyoung hisses at Woojin while looking nervously at the two Gryffindors blinking up at them.

“Well, go go go get your food then, bring Guanlin when you come back.” He waves a hand at Jinyoung as he sits down besides Jihoon.

Jinyoung rolls his eyes, smiles at Jihoon, then leaves with a string of curses under his breath.

“Woojin, you’re ridiculous.”

“You say that a lot I don’t get offended anymore.”

Hyeop watches as the two bicker in front of him, situation all too accustomed that he doesn’t even blink, but instead of hot-headed boys spitting out slurs and slanders, they’re openly _flirting_ and Hyeop is scandalized.

He turns to the other side and starts talking to Mark.

Woojin snickers. “Bet you won’t even reach that section.”

“What nonsense are you saying this time? Woojin, we barely have a height difference!”

“But I’m still taller than you.” He sips on his drink.

“I’ll bet you know, that you know that you’re not even that tall yourself— how was it? Drinking the potion to become Seongwoo just to be tall? How was it? The _height_? Able to see the whole school from up there?”

Woojin pales at the memory of the potion.

“Don’t go there or you’ll regret it.”

“Go where? Go to the time when you freaking pretended to be warming up your vocal tones and listened to all of my rambling just so you could use them against me—”

“Shut the hell up, Park Jihoon!”

Jihoon is not fazed, of course, he out of all people should be the last person to cower. “Or what? Or you’ll start a spell duel with me again and lose again? I would want that to happen again, I want to taste the feeling of triumph and victory all over again, sure feels good—”

“Jihoon, I swear—”

“—because you know, you also got defeated that time. You hate defeat, don’t you? So don’t you wanna have another round so you can redeem yourself? That sounds real nice, doesn’t it?”

Jihoon stops talking because Woojin has stopped moving.

“I was joking, _Woojin_ —”

“You’re not wrong,” he says, voice quivering.

That’s when Jihoon finally looks at him. He’s lowering his gaze, head dropping, chin is on his chest to look down at his own lap with his shaking hands on them.

“No, I, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

“I don’t even know if I regret drinking that potion, you know?” he starts, voice so tiny and Jihoon is suddenly leaning in closer next to him to listen, shutting out the other loud voices in the room. “I feel like it was my chance to get closer to you, but at the same time it was like, a mistake, I _lied_ to you.”

“I admit I was really deceived, but it was all back then and you already apologized—”

Woojin shakes under Jihoon’s touch.

Jihoon takes the opportunity to shift closer, leaving no space in between them, and he wraps his arms around Woojin, one hand wrapped in front, and the other rubbing his back soothingly. He puts his chin on the other’s shoulder.

Ever since they made up, they have been intimate, and Jihoon, being the clingy person he is, doesn’t exclude Woojin from his affectionate touches. Woojin used to push him away, not used to it, but soon he finds himself liking it, and he really should be grateful since his younger self was always petty about Jihoon never doting on him.

But sometimes, like _right now_ , Woojin quivers.

He quivers under the other’s touch because he doesn’t know if he’s even deserving of this — if he’s worthy, because Jihoon is _so_ nice, and Woojin doesn’t blame him if he goes all teasing and pricks Woojin’s wounds, because Woojin deserves that.

Jihoon would remind him, though, that he isn’t affected by the past anymore, but Woojin finds himself thinking that if he had apologized sooner he would’ve had enjoyed and had more moments like this, so of course, Woojin has regrets.

He also finds himself breaking down more often, and it’s so weird because it was one thing he was good at — controlling his melancholy feelings — but a lot of things has changed ever since he first entered the Room of Requirement with Jihoon, and this is one of them.

Woojin takes a deep breath.

“I’m okay now.”

Jihoon is not convinced, so, just in case, he presses a soft kiss to Woojin’s temple, and Woojin holds his breath.

Jihoon pulls away and Woojin suddenly misses the warmth.

“So, do you want to—”

“This is why I kept using the potion,” Woojin confesses. He decides this is the right time for him to come out clean.

“What?”

“I,” He licks his lips, “I really liked—”

“Wait, let’s get out of here. Let’s find a more quiet place, yeah?”

Woojin nods, agreeing, then lets Jihoon grab his wrist to bring them out of the Great Hall. He lets out a silent sigh in relief when Jihoon slowly entwines their fingers together. He squeezes their hands, not wanting to let go, and he tries not to melt when Jihoon turns around for a second to send him a smile.

They find themselves in a frequent position. In the courtyard, sitting down cross-legged next to each other and Jihoon’s head on Woojin’s shoulder in front of the small tree, and Jihoon stares at their hands while Woojin speaks.

“This is what you did when I was Seongwoo,” he starts. “You were nice and pleasant, I liked it.” He gulps. “You were never like that with me, obviously, so I never knew the feeling, until that night. I found myself craving for more — it’s weird, I know, I don’t know, I just wanted to see that side of you again, and I couldn’t do that if I was me, the foolishWoojin.”

He feels Jihoon smile on his shoulder.

Woojin feels himself beaming.

“So I did that. It was never to get you to be at your lowest and tease you for it, _no_ , I wouldn’t want that.”

Jihoon lifts his head up. “Really? I feel bad for assuming wrongly then.”

Woojin feels the other’s gaze on him, and it’s burning his skin. “It’s fine, I don’t blame you for coming up with that, really.”

“Weren’t you envious?”

His eyes meet Jihoon’s.

“Jealous? Very.” He keeps his gaze on Jihoon. “So I stopped bothering you, I never wanted to remind myself that you’re different towards me.”

“Different is nice.”

Woojin cracks a smile. “Maybe. You’re right. I should feel special that the nice and affable Park Jihoon was only mean to one person.”

Jihoon chuckles. “ _Yep_ , that’s right.”

“I’m not special now?” Woojin says, feigning sadness.

“Do you still want to be?” Jihoon goes along.

“Of course.”

This is when Woojin realises how awfully close they are, faces so close and Woojin is feeling _hot hot hot hot_.

“I mean, you know that Chocolate Frogs are my favourites,” Jihoon utters. “Not a lot of people know that.”

Woojin’s eyes widen, and his red ears are an indication that Jihoon is right.

“I—”

“I still remember your confession that night. A year ago, when you told me you liked me.”

Woojin looks away, and suddenly there’s space in between them and their hands are no longer attached.

“No, _please_.”

Jihoon smiles, and Woojin is definitely aware that it’s a sad smile. It’s a sad smile and he hates this smile.

They never bring it up, and Woojin has been dreading for this day to come. He didn’t think Jihoon would remember what he said, and honestly it is hard to try to act casual around your crush who used to be your so called _rival_ when you’re both already on friendly terms and you see more of their lovely side making you so _whipped_ as days passby _._

Jihoon seems to be looking at him like he knows Woojin has been struggling with his feelings, and Woojin doesn’t know if he should be relieved that the other understands or if he should be worried about the other being uncomfortable and knowing.

“You’re special if you kiss me here, right now.”

Woojin can’t move.

“It’d be my first kiss.”

Woojin can’t breathe.

“You’re kidding,” he responds, surprisingly he's still able to speak.

“Not really,” Jihoon replies.

He stares at Woojin who’s looking at him with apprehension dancing in his eyes. Jihoon gives him a soft smile this time, taking ahold of the other’s hand again. Woojin watches as Jihoon draws circles on his open palm, his other hand below it.

“Kiss me?” Jihoon whispers, eyes peeking under his eyelashes.

He’s not wearing his glasses, and although Woojin loves Jihoon in his round glasses, he thinks Jihoon still looks _decent_.

Okay, _fine_ , he looks beautiful.

Very beautiful.

This time, Woojin doesn't want to run away.

“Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> adios amigos im never writing a fic again LMAO but this was fun i’m glad that i joined!!  
> i hope ure fine with this ella FNDNS i didnt want to disappoint u  
> n sorry if u spot any mistakes :')  
> as i said im not really that knowledgeable when it comes to hp aus so characterizing someone from a certain house is difficult im sorry  
> but thank u for reading!! ♡


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